tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post8644151816554888544..comments2023-12-27T22:26:20.552-05:00Comments on synch-ro-ni-zing: Winter poem by Hayden Carruth: The CurtainRuthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-76676069922121467742013-11-16T15:50:19.876-05:002013-11-16T15:50:19.876-05:00I've read Carruth here and there for years -- ...I've read Carruth here and there for years -- have had several volumes by him for a good number of years. But I'd been saving him (his "Collected Shorter Poems" is huge, intimidating) for after I'd thoroughly read a number of other poets who I'd found before him.<br /><br />I am now immersed in him (and Karl Shapiro and Marianne Moore), and he is pulling me away from them (Shapiro especially). I don't tend to like "farm" stuff, but he is never limited to that; he is becoming one of my very favorites, and the poem posted is an example why. (I only wish the original lineation were obeyed).<br /><br />Wendell Berry and Carruth had in common that they owned/lived on and did farming: worked with their hands; see Carruth's "Marshall Washer". When you see the words about Carruth, "unapologetic affection," they come from Berry. This illustrates:<br /><br />Little Citizen, Little Survivor<br /><br />A brown rat has taken up residence with me. <br />A little brown rat with pinkish ears and lovely <br />almond-shaped eyes. He and his wife live <br />in the woodpile by my back door, and they are <br />so equal I cannot tell which is which when they <br />poke their noses out of the crevices among <br />the sticks of firewood and then venture farther <br />in search of sunflower seeds spilled from the feeder.<br />I can't tell you, my friend, how glad I am to see them. <br />I haven't seen a fox for years, or a mink, or <br />a fisher cat, or an eagle, or a porcupine, I haven't <br />seen any of my old company of the woods<br />and the fields, we who used to live in such <br />close affection and admiration. Well, I remember<br />when the coons would tap on my window, when <br />the ravens would speak to me from the edge of their<br />little precipice. Where are they now? Everyone knows.<br />Gone. Scattered in this terrible dispersal. But at least <br />the brown rat that most people so revile and fear <br />and castigate has brought his wife to live with me<br />again. Welcome, little citizen, little survivor. <br />Lend me your presence, and I will lend you mine.JNagaryahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00888822066651495927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-19698704411794053432011-12-05T10:36:50.113-05:002011-12-05T10:36:50.113-05:00I can't remember knowingly reading any Carruth...I can't remember knowingly reading any Carruth poems and this is a delightful way to be introduced...Thank you for this gift! I do believe he is writing of all my feelings towards being snowbound in this world...I do love the snow...that curtain...<br /><br />Isn't it wonderful when a poet expresses one's own thoughts so well!GailOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09556665956317683667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-1616532640731369602011-12-04T18:16:15.206-05:002011-12-04T18:16:15.206-05:00(((your brother bennett)))(((your brother bennett)))erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16636371927224076866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-26663034567012198172011-12-04T16:31:12.506-05:002011-12-04T16:31:12.506-05:00Oh, Ruth, thank you! Before this, "Hayden Car...Oh, Ruth, thank you! Before this, "Hayden Carruth" was only a name glimpsed here and there. Now I've a face a voice a poem to go with the name, and they are beautiful. I hope I can find the scrambled egg book. Thank you so much for this introduction!dshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07616750784052488695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-28249436796426324812011-12-04T11:04:36.487-05:002011-12-04T11:04:36.487-05:00This is just a beautiful poem. Snowbound. You find...This is just a beautiful poem. Snowbound. You find the best things. And his way of integrating the global with personal. A real gift.Jeaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17482528482559445943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-59540471269781173222011-12-04T04:21:24.379-05:002011-12-04T04:21:24.379-05:00Yes, Cait, thanks.Yes, <b>Cait</b>, thanks.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-66027458186480701202011-12-04T04:21:09.626-05:002011-12-04T04:21:09.626-05:00Dear erin, I do not have a volume of Carruth's...Dear <b>erin</b>, I do not have a volume of Carruth's yet, but I'll probably start with <i>Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey</i>. I've only read him online, and in a few anthologies here at home.<br /><br />I, too, love this photo very much. He looks the way I think my brother Bennett would look at his age, had he lived past 47.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-69532639477705421172011-12-04T04:19:05.129-05:002011-12-04T04:19:05.129-05:00Amy, doesn't he have a great voice! So deep an...<b>Amy</b>, doesn't he have a great voice! So deep and rumbling. I don't know who your friend is, but Hayden Carruth also had electric shock treatments! That he wrote even out of his experience (18 months) in a mental hospital tells you how RAW he can write.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-85087951018223714532011-12-04T04:17:19.111-05:002011-12-04T04:17:19.111-05:00Louise, yes, I sort of cleaned up all that "w...<b>Louise</b>, yes, I sort of cleaned up all that "what award did he win" text, what a distraction. He is a wonderful writer, and that is what matters.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-48205153414334064832011-12-04T04:16:14.643-05:002011-12-04T04:16:14.643-05:00Suman, welcome! Thank you for coming by and for yo...<b>Suman</b>, welcome! Thank you for coming by and for your nice comment. From a brief look at your blog, you have a lot to feed me too.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-47159297330608163692011-12-04T04:15:03.666-05:002011-12-04T04:15:03.666-05:00Mary, quite amazing, isn't it? We have to be h...<b>Mary</b>, quite amazing, isn't it? We have to be honest about our joy, as well as the fear and sorrow. I don't think we get anywhere if we aren't. Thanks for reading, friend.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-73164473767482842122011-12-04T04:13:55.592-05:002011-12-04T04:13:55.592-05:00Nelson, I did not know that Berry and Carruth were...<b>Nelson</b>, I did not know that Berry and Carruth were friends, but it doesn't surprise me, being of the same generation, and being men who crave a simpler way of seeing the world. Thank you.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-62457883348910211772011-12-04T04:12:39.617-05:002011-12-04T04:12:39.617-05:00Robert, so glad to introduce you to a new American...<b>Robert</b>, so glad to introduce you to a new American across the pond!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-56050214944450251382011-12-04T04:12:01.792-05:002011-12-04T04:12:01.792-05:00Marcie, another lover of winter, yes! Nothing like...<b>Marcie</b>, another lover of winter, yes! Nothing like a camera to make us love it, eh? Thanks so much.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-20788370095771588022011-12-04T04:11:17.733-05:002011-12-04T04:11:17.733-05:00Loring, that's way colder than it's been h...<b>Loring</b>, that's way colder than it's been here yet!Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-49532078244720379532011-12-04T04:10:58.482-05:002011-12-04T04:10:58.482-05:00Hedge two wonderful images for what a writer, musi...<b>Hedge</b> two wonderful images for what a writer, musician or artist does, thank you. Making beauty from pain is possible, as you ardently and steadily show.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-45780521091592248302011-12-04T04:09:33.430-05:002011-12-04T04:09:33.430-05:00Auntie, I echo your comments, that we get better a...<b>Auntie</b>, I echo your comments, that we get better at losing Guilt as we age. I am better at it too, but I spent a lifetime believing I should do, and be, more than I am, and that's a hard habit to break. Thank you for reading and finding so much here in the work of Hayden Carruth with me.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-40788356784092640412011-12-04T04:05:25.444-05:002011-12-04T04:05:25.444-05:00Thanks, George! I am quite happy to introduce you ...Thanks, <b>George</b>! I am quite happy to introduce you and Hayden Carruth. We can explore him together.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204074161539605133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-85331578736436841752011-12-03T17:08:00.072-05:002011-12-03T17:08:00.072-05:00Very moving.Very moving.Cait O'Connorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04569760764766505179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-21427559994986624042011-12-03T08:33:15.435-05:002011-12-03T08:33:15.435-05:00oh, from the sip of inexpensive cognac to cheers b...oh, from the sip of inexpensive cognac to cheers baby, our flippant indulgent existence, (indulgent even in these common indulgences, not refined) oh. and juxtaposed, suffering, and on the other side of our comfortable vale, death. oh.<br /><br />i do believe he is important. wow. thank you for the introduction. i have been in need of a new voice. a book or volume recommendation?<br /><br />and looking at his photograph i lament that i am not a man. what it might be like to live inside a face like this!<br /><br />xo<br />erinerinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16636371927224076866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-21102226095127621092011-12-02T21:16:03.032-05:002011-12-02T21:16:03.032-05:00Hello Hayden! Loved listening to his reading on t...Hello Hayden! Loved listening to his reading on the link you provided, Ruth.<br /><br />I know a 'hayden' who writes and speaks incredibly well - can arrange words with poetic power. His life duplicates Hayden's. Except he's been through shock treatment many times. The closer he is to wanting to die, the more beauty he shares. <br /><br />This man has a daughter who he did not raise. She found him and has never given up. Her love fuels his battle against insanity. <br /><br />Those who write in RAW (is that a coincidental label for photography?) remind me that shoulds are as good as being dead.amy@ Souldipperhttp://souldipper.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-74272695026510492042011-12-02T19:57:02.979-05:002011-12-02T19:57:02.979-05:00Whatever he did or didn't win, he won my heart...Whatever he did or didn't win, he won my heart.<br /><br />Thank you for sharing his words and your photo -- which is stunning.Louise Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522775693728655487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-57804894870502555842011-12-02T18:16:43.924-05:002011-12-02T18:16:43.924-05:00Hello Ruth! I am a newcomer here and must say it f...Hello Ruth! I am a newcomer here and must say it feels like a kid in a candy shop. :-)<br />Thanks for sharing this beautiful poem, such haunting lines. And coupled with your pictures, the posts are absolutely thrilling.Sumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11251497690649264925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-38272167874290383062011-12-02T17:10:31.519-05:002011-12-02T17:10:31.519-05:00How does he do that? Acknowledge the world's s...How does he do that? Acknowledge the world's situation and his own life in his particular place? It's perfect somehow. He shows us how to survive the immense machine in the only way we can. Thanks for posting Hayden's poem.Grandmother Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18169464484379536529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21312708.post-66185292323213250032011-12-02T16:55:10.442-05:002011-12-02T16:55:10.442-05:00At Ruth's recent suggestion I picked up some W...At Ruth's recent suggestion I picked up some Wendell Berry books at the library. Among them is his most recent <i>Imagination in Place</i>, with a chapter, "My friend Hayden." Berry writes, "I have been lucky to have a few friends with whom my conversation seems never to resume but merely to continue, and Hayden is one of them."Nelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16749338478275015984noreply@blogger.com