Yeah, I'm a wimp. I got through 10 pages of To the Lighthouse and realized I don't have the presence of mind for it right now. I'd forgotten how much Woolf loves the relative clause--thrilling syntactical ride, but more effort than I can give it right now. So I'll keep it in the long-range viewfinder.
I've turned to the equally thrilling but syntactically easier Stephen Dunn's New and Selected Poems, 1974-1994. And gee, wouldn't you know, he covers material far more wide-ranging than my previous (limited) knowledge of him suggested. Very engaging, straight-up, yet not simplistic--kind of like Billy Collins without the impishness. No, nothing impish about Dunn at all:
Welcome
If you believe nothing is always what's left
after a while, as I did,
If you believe you have this collection
of ungiven gifts, as I do (right here
behind the silence and the averted eyes)
If you believe an afternoon can collapse
into strange privacies--
how in your backyard, for example,
the shyness of flowers can be suddenly
overwhelming, and in the distance
the clear goddamn of thunder
personal, like a voice,
If you believe there's no correct response
to death, as I do; that even in grief
(where I've sat making plans)
there are small corners of joy
If your body sometimes is a light switch
in a house of insomniacs
If you can feel yourself straining
to be yourself every waking minute
If, as I am, you are almost smiling...
***
Alongside Dunn, I'm making my way into a book that covers a year in the life of a marching band in Indiana; it's called (what else?) American Band. Looks promising, and seems spot-on. My high school band wasn't nearly as fanatical (or as accomplished) as this bunch, so the geek in me is fascinated by how esprit de corps can work.
How do I find these books? Bless the Web.
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