On the Trail of Messages – poems
By this time, my terrain had widened; I was sending out manuscripts accompanied by stamped, self-addressed envelopes (remember them?) and, lo and behold, getting poems and translations accepted into a hodge-podge of exotic literary and “little” magazines such as Bitter Oleander, Cape Rock, CutBank, Glassworks, On Turtle’s Back, Tuatara, Ordinary, etc. I still have copies of these and countless others in my study, and gaze at them on occasion, wondering, “Where are they now…?”
Leafing through the impeccably-rendered pages, I understand that my poems have emanated from a place of burgeoning imagination. I see concision and imagery, heightened coloration, human feeling, and grasp of essential moments. There are translations from the French poetry of Jean Mambrino and Simone Weil at the conclusion of this book, reminding me of my passion for that language…that I only managed three trips to Paris, shrouded, today, in the aroma of café au lait and the fumes of papier mais Gauloises. – N.B.