Weekend Guide: 09.24.2021

I'm flying into myself

Most of our problems proceed from our inability to sit quietly in a small room.

Pascal said something like this back in the 1600s.

Heavy, eh? 🪨

Bill Knot appended this quote to his poem Peace (Pascal). Just the quote. No explanation — a nod to his inspiration. I had never heard it before, but it’s been lingering.

Poetry is often left alone for the reader to decipher. No window into the process. No illuminating cliff-notes. In my humble estimation, vagueness is part of the appeal.

*also, try to get anyone to talk you about books - let alone poetry. I dare you!

In the case of Knott, the notes section in I Am Flying Into Myself: Selected Poems 1960-2014 is as sparse as (most of) his poetry. Eight notes for two hundred seven poems.

Seeing a writer leave breadcrumbs is rare. But as someone who wears influences like a badge of honor, I appreciate the effort.

I bought I Am Flying Into Myself a few weeks back on the title alone. I don’t know what it means, but I think it’s beautiful.

For some reason, picking up a poet blind is a bit lower stakes than diving into a novel with zero context. Either way, I’m glad I took a flier on Knott.

From my half-assed internet research. He was a bit of a recluse. A thorny genius. Use your imagination. An overlooked poet, scrawling away in his small cramped Boston apartment for 50+ years. He likely had a limp handshake and a vacant stare. Sweaty palms; bad, baggy clothes.

Poetry has never been sexy. Or has it? You tell me.

Here are a few selections from I Am Flying Into Myself that I fell in love with.

Poet Thomas Lux wrote of the collection: “The best poems in this first collection … confront the reader with their directness and imagination… . They’re poems of anguish and frustration because the poet takes responsibility.”

I agree.

If you want to go deep, Knott started to self publish essentially everything he did online in 2007. You can find free pdfs of all his work from this era on the Bill Knott Archive website.

Now, excuse me while I proceed to sit quietly in my small room. I may even try to write some poetry of my own.