Fall Equinox Poetry Circle of the Air
September 21, 2006 Thursday 3PM CT
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This hour on Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders, Jean Feraca and Molly Peacock host September Equinox Poetry Circle of the Air, discussing, among others, "The Dirty Poem" by John Drury.
Guest
- Molly Peacock, poet and author of five books of poetry, including "Cornucopia: New & Selected Poems"
- April Lindner, assistant professor of English, St. Joseph University. Editor of "Connected Lines: New Poetry from Mexico"
Poem to be Discussed
Dirty Poem, by John Drury
Whoever worships cleanliness
dwells in the canton of exclusiion,
where the church walls inside are white-washed
and the dogs muzzled, the streets empty
after curfew, where crucifixes
are swaddled in gauze, and only soap
rendered from volcanic ash can scrape
the oils and smears and deep grit of earth.
But down a red stairwell, through curtains of beads,
a singer's nipples glow through lace.
Lovers rub lotions over aching blades.
Coupling, they also love
the delectable mess of sex,
the jolt of voltage, confluence
like the clear and muddy blending
of Potomac and Shenandoah.
Mix thoroughly -- the earth tones, earthiness,
pecks of dirt you'll eat before your death,
the earth that hugs you or the flames
that make you wail. O body
of flesh and fluids, O soul that revels there,
we die for the French kiss of everything.
O pure impurity: the fleck
of dust at the heart of each snowflake.
In Spanish: Poema sucio
Todo aquel que venera la limpieza
habita en el cantón de la exclusión
donde los muros interiores de la iglesia son encalados
y los perros usan bozal, las calles están desiertas
después del toque de queda, donde los crucifijos
están envueltos en vendajes, y sólo el jabón
procedente de ceniza volcánica puede raspar
los aceites y embarrones y arenisca profunda de la tierra.
Pero de bajada por un cubo de escalera, cruzando cortinas de cuentas,
los pezones de una cantante resplandecen tras el encaje.
Los amantes se frotan con lociones encima de
navajas dolientes.
Acoplaándose, también aman
el deleitoso revoltijo del sexo,
el salto del voltaje, la confluencia
como la clara y lodosa mezcla
del Potomac y el Shenandoah.
Mezcla a profundidad: los tonos de la tierra, lo terreno,
manchas de mugre que comerás antes de tu muerte,
la tierra que te abraza o las llamas
que te hacen aullar. Ay, cuerpo
de carne y líquidos, Ay, alma que se recrea ahí,
damos la vida por el beso francés de todo.
Ay, pura impureza: la mancha
de polvo en el corazón de cada copo de nieve.
Related Links
Listener Comments
- John Drury 9/23/06: "The poetry circle show was wonderful, and I got a real kick out of hearing my poem read so beautifully both in English and Spanish. The comments you made were great. I certainly did know the derivation of 'ash' and have related it to my students many times. I also remember the occasion when I first learned it--in Richard Howard's seminar ('Disclosure and Disguise') at Johns Hopkins. But I really wasn't thinking about it consciously when I wrote the poem. I was thinking of Lava soap! Jean's insight about the first stanza being Protestant, the second Catholic, and the third a mix sounded exactly right, although I hadn't thought of that consciously either, although the 'canton of exclusion' is modeled on John Calvin's Geneva, seen though a dream lens. Thanks so much for picking my poem to discuss!"
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