WEBVTT 00:00:10.178 --> 00:00:17.722 - And welcome to the Monroe County Public Library and our favorite poem project. My name is Jennifer Lucas, 00:00:17.722 --> 00:00:25.265 - and we are co-sponsoring the event with Indiana Review. And so I'm going to introduce you to Laura McCoy, 00:00:25.265 --> 00:00:32.382 - the editor of the Indiana Review. And she will explain to you more of what we are doing. Thank you. 00:00:39.554 --> 00:00:46.358 - Hi, my name is Laura McCoy. I am the editor of Indiana Review, which is published under the auspices 00:00:46.358 --> 00:00:53.566 - of the English department here in Indiana. This is our most recent issue. And Indiana Review is a national 00:00:53.566 --> 00:00:54.846 - literary magazine. 00:00:55.362 --> 00:01:01.337 - Generally, published poems or poems that we have published and stories that we have published are reprinted 00:01:01.337 --> 00:01:07.091 - in the Best American Short Stories or the Best American Poetry. And we're open to the public. So please 00:01:07.091 --> 00:01:13.177 - come read and come visit. Check out our poems and our stories and help us select them. There are subscription 00:01:13.177 --> 00:01:18.930 - forms over here on the table. We're also having a borders discount days this weekend. And if you'd like 00:01:18.930 --> 00:01:25.182 - to talk about that, please feel free to come up and talk with me or Lauren Hartley, the business manager, after. 00:01:26.050 --> 00:01:33.315 - Thank you. Holly Gregory is actually going to give the specifics about this evening. And she is with 00:01:33.315 --> 00:01:41.012 - the educational service. She is the educational services coordinator with WTIAU. Thank you. Hi. Basically, 00:01:41.012 --> 00:01:48.636 - let me give you a little bit of info about the Favorite Poem Project. This was designed by Robert Pinsky, 00:01:48.636 --> 00:01:55.326 - who's our current poet laureate. And well, let me give you what he sees as the vision of the 00:01:55.426 --> 00:02:01.470 - the favorite poem project in his own words. The project creates a record at the end of the millennium 00:02:01.470 --> 00:02:07.633 - of what we choose and what we do with our voices and faces when asked to say aloud a poem that we love. 00:02:07.633 --> 00:02:13.618 - It is a gift to the nation's future, an archive that may come to represent in a form both individual 00:02:13.618 --> 00:02:19.544 - and public the cultural consciousness of the American public at the turn of the millennial century. 00:02:19.544 --> 00:02:23.870 - The idea, put plainly, is to listen to the American audience for poetry. 00:02:24.546 --> 00:02:30.769 - This undertaking is rooted in two convictions, that poetry is above all a vocal art and that American 00:02:30.769 --> 00:02:37.115 - poetry from the time of Whitman and Dickinson has been one of our glories and national treasures. These 00:02:37.115 --> 00:02:43.399 - two ideas are related in that they both point toward the individual reader. That poetry is vocal means 00:02:43.399 --> 00:02:49.622 - that its medium is the body of the audience. The poem is said by whoever takes pleasure in saying it, 00:02:49.622 --> 00:02:52.734 - not necessarily a skilled performer or the author. 00:02:53.570 --> 00:02:59.376 - that American poetry has been one of our great national attainments raises the question of what role 00:02:59.376 --> 00:03:05.412 - we give to poems in our individual lives. So what that means is this is sort of an open forum for people 00:03:05.412 --> 00:03:11.161 - to read their favorite poems and talk about why they like them and what they mean and then there is 00:03:11.161 --> 00:03:17.082 - a postcard here which is the submission form that you're welcome to fill out and send in and then some 00:03:17.082 --> 00:03:18.462 - of these will be chosen 00:03:18.658 --> 00:03:26.010 - for Robert Pinsky's side of the archive and the tape that we make this evening will be submitted to 00:03:26.010 --> 00:03:33.436 - the project as well. So I think that's basically the favorite poem project. And what I'm going to do 00:03:33.436 --> 00:03:40.936 - is kick it off with one of my favorite poems. I'm going to do Langston Hughes. He's a wonderful poet. 00:03:40.936 --> 00:03:44.318 - And this is a poem called Aunt Sue's Stories. 00:03:44.514 --> 00:03:49.965 - I think I'll say why I like it first. The reason that I like this poem a lot is because it reminds me 00:03:49.965 --> 00:03:55.309 - of my own family. Langston Hughes comes from a very different background than I do, but the essence 00:03:55.309 --> 00:04:01.027 - of telling stories in a family setting and knowing that they're real stories is important and that they're 00:04:01.027 --> 00:04:06.531 - stories. My grandmother's a Polish immigrant and hearing those stories and knowing that those are true 00:04:06.531 --> 00:04:11.982 - stories of a Polish immigrant is important to my family and how I grew up. So I think that's why this 00:04:11.982 --> 00:04:14.494 - one speaks to me, I guess. Aunt Sue's stories. 00:04:15.522 --> 00:04:22.385 - Aunt Sue has a head full of stories. Aunt Sue has a whole heart full of stories. Summer nights on the 00:04:22.385 --> 00:04:29.585 - front porch, Aunt Sue cuddles a brown-faced child to her bosom and tells him stories. Black slaves working 00:04:29.585 --> 00:04:36.515 - in the hot sun and black slaves walking in the dewy night and black slaves singing sorrow songs on the 00:04:36.515 --> 00:04:42.302 - banks of a mighty river mingle themselves softly in the flow of old Aunt Sue's voice. 00:04:42.914 --> 00:04:50.908 - mingle themselves softly in the dark shadows that cross and recross Aunt Sue's stories. And the dark-faced 00:04:50.908 --> 00:04:58.454 - child listening knows that Aunt Sue's stories are real stories. He knows that Aunt Sue never got her 00:04:58.454 --> 00:05:06.075 - stories out of any book at all, but that they came right out of her own life. The dark-faced child is 00:05:06.075 --> 00:05:10.782 - quiet of a summer night listening to Aunt Sue's stories. Okay. 00:05:11.042 --> 00:05:22.359 - So now I'll turn it over to someone else who would like to read. Jennifer, you want to go first? Oh, 00:05:22.359 --> 00:05:34.236 - sure. Why not? Hello. I'm going to read a story. It's called The Face Upon the Floor by H. Antoine Darcy. 00:05:34.236 --> 00:05:40.062 - And this brings back wonderful memories as a child. 00:05:40.162 --> 00:05:47.569 - My older brother, actually, when he was younger, he was bigger than all the other kids. And so my dad, 00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:54.832 - he would always make jokes about being Casey at the Bat and Mudville and all that. And so poems that 00:05:54.832 --> 00:06:02.023 - tell a story. And The Face Upon the Floor tells a story, and it kind of hits my heart. Every time I 00:06:02.023 --> 00:06:09.214 - read it or think about it, I just get teary-eyed, because it's about love lost and falling in love. 00:06:09.538 --> 00:06:16.587 - So I'm going to read it for you. Hopefully, I can do it somewhat justice, some justice. As far as there 00:06:16.587 --> 00:06:23.839 - are two words that I thought I'd share with you, I had to look up just to make sure that I was pronouncing 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:30.685 - them right, because I have really bad time with phonics. I'm not a good phonics person. So the first 00:06:30.685 --> 00:06:34.142 - word is bandinage. And I lost the meaning to that. 00:06:39.010 --> 00:06:45.665 - Bandonage, it's playful repartee banter. It's a French word. Okay, and then the other one is sue, which 00:06:45.665 --> 00:06:52.256 - is just, it stands money, French for money. Some kind of five piece worth five cents or something like 00:06:52.256 --> 00:06:58.591 - that. So now that you know those two words, the poem makes so much more sense to you. I know that, 00:06:58.591 --> 00:07:05.310 - you know, for the last, like whenever I would read this, I would always come to those words and stumble. 00:07:05.310 --> 00:07:08.254 - So here we go. Okay. The face upon the floor. 00:07:08.898 --> 00:07:15.179 - It was a balmy summer evening and a goodly crowd was there, which well-nighed filled Joe's bar room 00:07:15.179 --> 00:07:21.774 - on the corner of the square. And as songs and witty stories came through the open door, a vagabond crept 00:07:21.774 --> 00:07:28.180 - slowly and posed upon the floor. Where did it come from? Someone said. The wind has blown it in. What 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:34.461 - does it want? Another cried. Some whiskey run or rum or gin. Here, Toby, seek him if your stomach's 00:07:34.461 --> 00:07:37.790 - equal to the work. I wouldn't touch him with a fork. 00:07:37.922 --> 00:07:44.294 - filthy as a Turk. This bandinage the poor wretch took with stoical good grace. In fact, he smiled as 00:07:44.294 --> 00:07:50.792 - though he thought he'd struck the proper place. Come, boys, I know there's kindly hearts among so good 00:07:50.792 --> 00:07:57.101 - a crowd. To be in such good company would make a deacon proud. Give me a drink, that's what I want. 00:07:57.101 --> 00:08:03.725 - I'm out of funds, you know. When I had cash to treat the gang, this hand was never slow. What? You laugh 00:08:03.725 --> 00:08:07.006 - as though you thought this pocket never held a sew? 00:08:07.394 --> 00:08:13.692 - I once was fixed as well, my boys, as any one of you. There, oh, thanks, that braced me nicely. 00:08:13.692 --> 00:08:20.514 - God bless you, one and all. Next time I pass this good saloon, I'll make another call. Give you a song? 00:08:20.514 --> 00:08:27.271 - No, I can't do that. My singing days are past. My voice is cracked, my throat's worn out, and my lungs 00:08:27.271 --> 00:08:33.832 - are going fast. Say, give me another whiskey, and I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll tell you a funny 00:08:33.832 --> 00:08:36.062 - story and a fact, I promise, too. 00:08:36.674 --> 00:08:43.573 - that I was ever a decent man, not one of you would think. But I was some four or five years back. Say, 00:08:43.573 --> 00:08:50.404 - give me another drink. Fill her up, Joe. I want to put some life into my frame. Such little drinks to 00:08:50.404 --> 00:08:57.102 - a bum like me are miserably tame. Five fingers, there, that's the scheme. And corking whiskey, too. 00:08:57.102 --> 00:09:03.934 - Well, here's luck, boys. And Landlord, my best regards to you. Well, you've treated me pretty kindly. 00:09:04.162 --> 00:09:10.905 - And I'd like to tell you how I came to be the dirty stock you see before you now. As I told you, once 00:09:10.905 --> 00:09:17.714 - I was a man with muscle frame and health and but for a blunder ought to have made considerable wealth. 00:09:17.714 --> 00:09:24.523 - I was a painter, not one that daubed on bricks and wood, but an artist and for my age was rated pretty 00:09:24.523 --> 00:09:32.126 - good. I worked hard at my canvas and was bidding fair to rise for gradually I saw the star of fame before my eyes. 00:09:32.610 --> 00:09:39.905 - I made a picture, but perhaps you've seen. It's called Chase of Fame. It brought me 1,500 pounds and 00:09:39.905 --> 00:09:47.272 - added to my name. And then I met a woman. Now comes the funny part, with eyes that petrified my brain 00:09:47.272 --> 00:09:54.495 - and sunk into my heart. Why don't you laugh? Tis funny that a bag of bond you see could ever love a 00:09:54.495 --> 00:10:01.790 - woman and expect her love for me. But twas so, and for a month or two, her smiles were freely given. 00:10:02.210 --> 00:10:09.629 - And when her loving lips touched mine, it carried me to heaven. Did you ever see a woman for whom your 00:10:09.629 --> 00:10:17.264 - soul you'd give, with a form like Milo Venus, too beautiful to live, with eyes that would beat the kuanor 00:10:17.264 --> 00:10:24.755 - and a wealth of chestnut hair? If so, twas she, for there never was another half so fair. I was working 00:10:24.755 --> 00:10:32.030 - on a portrait one afternoon in May of a fair-haired boy, a friend of mine, who lived across the way. 00:10:32.962 --> 00:10:40.104 - And Madeleine admired it, and much to my surprise, said that she would like to know the man who had 00:10:40.104 --> 00:10:47.531 - such dreamy eyes. It didn't take long to know him, and before the month had flown, my friend had stolen 00:10:47.531 --> 00:10:54.744 - my darling, and I was left alone. And ere a year of misery had passed above my head, the jewel I had 00:10:54.744 --> 00:11:02.028 - treasured so had tarnished and was dead. That's why I took to drink, boys. Why, you know, I never saw 00:11:02.028 --> 00:11:02.814 - you smile. 00:11:03.202 --> 00:11:09.377 - I thought you'd be amused and laughing all the while. Why, what's the matter, friend? There's a teardrop 00:11:09.377 --> 00:11:15.435 - in your eye. Come, laugh like me, because only babes and woman that should cry. Say, boys, if you give 00:11:15.435 --> 00:11:21.375 - me just another whiskey, I'll be glad. And I'll draw you right here a picture of the face that drove 00:11:21.375 --> 00:11:27.316 - me mad. Give me that piece of chalk with which you mark the baseball score. You shall see the lovely 00:11:27.316 --> 00:11:29.374 - Madeleine upon the bar room floor. 00:11:30.018 --> 00:11:40.263 - Another drink, and with chalk in hand, the vagabond began to sketch a face that well might buy the soul 00:11:40.263 --> 00:11:50.114 - of any man. Then, as he placed another lock upon the shapely head, with a fearful shriek, he weeped 00:11:50.114 --> 00:11:57.502 - and fell across the picture, dead." So that's my poem. So Holly, well. OK. 00:11:57.858 --> 00:12:13.511 - Should I put our guest on the spot? You sure you don't want to read? Okay, well then Laura, I think 00:12:13.511 --> 00:12:23.998 - it's going to be up to you. One of the most thrilling things about 00:12:24.578 --> 00:12:31.217 - Well, in the office when we started talking about doing this, everybody got really excited because it's 00:12:31.217 --> 00:12:37.728 - so exciting to read poems that you love to people and just kind of let them know about it. And I also 00:12:37.728 --> 00:12:44.239 - chose a poem from my childhood, and I grew up with Shel Silverstein, who I love dearly and who taught 00:12:44.239 --> 00:12:50.878 - us lots. And the poem I've chosen to read is Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out. 00:12:51.106 --> 00:12:59.341 - My mother would quote this in order to get us to do our chores. And I hope you enjoy it as much as I 00:12:59.341 --> 00:13:04.478 - do. Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not take the garbage out. 00:13:04.578 --> 00:13:11.173 - She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans, candidate yams and spice the hams. And though her daddy would 00:13:11.173 --> 00:13:17.769 - scream and shout, she simply would not take the garbage out. And so it piled up to the ceilings, coffee 00:13:17.769 --> 00:13:24.364 - grounds, potato peelings, brown bananas, rotten peas, chunks of sour cottage cheese. It filled the can, 00:13:24.364 --> 00:13:30.833 - it covered the floor, it cracked the window and blocked the door. With bacon rinds and chicken bones, 00:13:30.833 --> 00:13:32.862 - drippy ends of ice cream cones, 00:13:32.994 --> 00:13:40.255 - croon pits, peach pits, orange peel, gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal, pizza crusts and withered greens, 00:13:40.255 --> 00:13:47.730 - soggy beans and tangerines, crusts of blackburn buttered toast, grizzly bits of beefy roast. The garbage 00:13:47.730 --> 00:13:52.286 - rolled on down the hall. It raised the roof. It broke the wall. 00:13:53.314 --> 00:14:00.082 - Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs, globs of gooey bubble gum, cellophane from green baloney, rubbery blubbery 00:14:00.082 --> 00:14:06.659 - macaroni, peanut butter caked and dry, curdled milk and crusts of pie, moldy melons, dried up mustard, 00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:13.236 - eggshells mixed with lemon custard, cold French fries and rancid meat, yellow lumps of cream of wheat. 00:14:13.236 --> 00:14:19.877 - At last, the garbage reached so high that it finally touched the sky, and all the neighbors moved away, 00:14:19.877 --> 00:14:22.686 - and none of her friends would come to play. 00:14:23.202 --> 00:14:29.722 - And finally, Sarah Cynthia Stout said, okay, I'll take the garbage out. But then, of course, 00:14:29.722 --> 00:14:37.083 - it was too late. The garbage had reached across the state and from New York to the Golden Gate and there 00:14:37.083 --> 00:14:44.375 - in the garbage she did hate. Poor Sarah met an awful fate. I cannot rightly now relate because the hour 00:14:44.375 --> 00:14:50.334 - is much too late, but children remember Sarah Stout and always take the garbage out. 00:14:56.994 --> 00:15:02.436 - I'm a big fan of Shel Silverstein as well. That's one of my favorites. There's also Hungry Mungry, who 00:15:02.436 --> 00:15:07.930 - eats the world. He's my other favorite. Lauren, do you want to go ahead and do yours? No, no. I'm going 00:15:07.930 --> 00:15:13.214 - to do it tonight. OK. All righty. Well, you sure you don't want to read? OK. All right. If I've got 00:15:13.214 --> 00:15:18.814 - the captive audience, then I'll read one other really short one. And then we'll call it a night, I guess. 00:15:24.802 --> 00:15:31.805 - This is a poet named John Stone who is a cardiologist actually. He's dean of the Emory Medical School 00:15:31.805 --> 00:15:38.945 - and a fabulous poet. Really interesting man. He wanders through his rounds in the hospital and not only 00:15:38.945 --> 00:15:45.948 - does he have on his lab coat with stethoscope and all that kind of stuff, but he sticks three by five 00:15:45.948 --> 00:15:47.390 - cards in his pocket. 00:15:47.490 --> 00:15:53.083 - because he says, you never know when inspiration will hit you. So he'll reach one out. So he'll be with 00:15:53.083 --> 00:15:58.568 - some patient. And I was like, just a second, please. And he'll reach down and scrawl a line and stick 00:15:58.568 --> 00:16:03.946 - it back in his pocket. But really interesting man. And this is from his collection called The Smell 00:16:03.946 --> 00:16:09.378 - of Matches. Actually, you know what? This one's too depressing. How about this one? This one's about 00:16:09.378 --> 00:16:14.756 - death, which really is no better, I suppose, in terms of the depressing level. But this one's nice. 00:16:14.756 --> 00:16:16.638 - OK, this is from In All This Rain. 00:16:17.666 --> 00:16:26.098 - death. I have seen come on slowly as rust, sand, or suddenly as when someone leaving a room finds the 00:16:26.098 --> 00:16:34.614 - doorknob come loose in his hand." So that's one of my other favorites. I just think that last metaphor 00:16:34.614 --> 00:16:42.881 - is really nice. I think we'll call that a night and close this out. Thank you very much for joining 00:16:42.881 --> 00:16:44.286 - us this evening. 00:16:44.898 --> 00:16:50.497 - We all love poetry. It's wonderful, and the rest of this week should be a terrific celebration. Don't 00:16:50.497 --> 00:16:55.986 - forget to make your own submissions to the project so that we can get a sort of national archive of 00:16:55.986 --> 00:17:00.542 - what poetry means in our lives. And I think that's it, so thanks a lot for coming.