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Tom Chaney: The Narcotic Moment of Creative Bliss Of Writers And Their Books: The Narcotic Moment of Creative Bliss. Review of Asparagus Seems Deaf, a collection of poems by Charles Dowling Williams of Munfordville. This column first appeared 28 May 2006. The next earlier Tom Chaney column: The Diligent Heart: Margaret Vance Anderson By Tom Chaney The Narcotic Moment of Creative Bliss "There is a touch of ice in all that burns." The heat of summer contains the promise of winter and death. The passion of love implies the survival of life through love won -- then lost by death or turning away. These contraries are the business of the poet. Every new poem is a search for the answer to a riddle. The search is one the poet makes. He plumbs the sensuous language in a search for meaning, for order and reason, for significance in an otherwise chaotic, haphazard, tragic world. The resolution of conflicting vision is the poet's work. And a very private work it is. What joy to see that private vision assume by craft an affirmation that the poet is willing to share! Charles Dowling Williams of Munfordville has chosen to place in our hands the yet emerging work of a lifetime of his learning how to see. Harmony House Publishers of Louisville has, this month, issued Williams' collection entitled Asparagus Seems Deaf. Those of us who have known his poetry for decades think it is about time he let these loose in the world. At least in my own case as a reader -- not a crafter -- of poems, Williams' learning how to see illuminates my own dim vision. Were you to come to The Bookstore, I might sit you down and begin to read. As I read aloud, Williams' voice takes shape in my mind's ear -- colored with my own poor speech. But you, too, can taste and see and smell this familiar scent. The Narcissism of BarnsAnd in the coming together of love and loss, I would share A Oneness Won in Augustcoupled with September's news A Numbness in SeptemberNo one poet is entirely like another, but when I read Charlie Williams, I am reminded most of Walt Whitman -- not such an exuberant "Yawp" -- but something of the same sensuous use of language -- a similar exultation in the peopled world. Arranged chronologically from roughly 1969 through 2005, with two exceptions at beginning and end, the poems exhibit a growth in the facility of imagining the contrary world -- a celebration of the narcotic moment of creative bliss. This little book is a beautiful thing in itself. Its texture and feel engenders expectation. Alas, its issuance is also a cause for mourning. Harmony House was founded by that masterful photographer, Bill Strode. Asparagus Seems Deaf is his last publication. Mr. Strode died of cancer just last week. Tom Chaney can be found telling stories, planning his next meal, and occasionally selling books at THE BOOKSTORE Box 73 / 111 Water Street Horse Cave, Kentucky 42749 270-786-3084 Email: Tom Chaney http://www.alibris.com/stores/horscave This story was posted on 2013-05-26 01:15:15
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Tom Chaney: Of Writers and Their Books:
Tom Chaney: Margaret Vance Anderson, Glasgow native Tom Chaney: Atticking, Attaching, Attocking Tom Chaney: Here be Dragons - Back in Kentucky Tom Chaney: Joyful Spring Tom Chaney: The Exhausted Aftermath Tom Chaney: The Dark Side of History Tom Chaney: Margaret Truman Daniel Tom Chaney: Stealing Time Tom Chaney: From Where the Sun Now Stands Tom Chaney: Just Live With It View even more articles in topic Tom Chaney: Of Writers and Their Books |
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