I borrowed it from the library.
The very first page
was almost gone,
mostly torn out
so his biography read as snippets
and half-sentences,
leaving the rest of his life
to the imagination of the reader.
I think he would have liked this.
Later, I find a stain on the first page
of his essay titled ‘On Writing’.
It looked like blood
and fell right over the bit where he says,
rather than talent or training,
“a writer who has a special way
of looking at things”
is someone to watch out for.
While the idea seems kind of obvious to me,
I don’t know if such a revelation is worth bleeding for;
and wonder if someone had.
Even so, I can't help but think
he would have liked this too.
Comments
jlb | March 4, 2011 - 03:35
Is this Raymond Carver? I've only ever read his shorts, but I liked this - there's something about books that have been heavily (ab)used or marked in some way that makes them more special.
Dynamaso | March 4, 2011 - 04:34
JLB, it is Raymond Carver. I probably shouldn't have assumed everyone would know who I was talking about.
I've read a lot of his short stories but hadn't read any of his poetry until I picked up this book at the library. I can highly recommend his work.
jlb | March 4, 2011 - 08:00
Not at all - you should absolutely assume; my ignorance I'm afraid!
Blessing | April 9, 2012 - 13:31
Thanks for the introduction, written months before I joined. What with STM's forum piece will investigate further.
Dynamaso | April 9, 2012 - 23:20
Blessing, his stories are a constant source of inspiration. Thanks for reading and your comment.
Thanks to the cherrypicker as well.