X Speaks

I am very happy the great Frank X. Walker was named the Kentucky Poet Laureate today. I met Frank during my time working for the Governor's School for the Arts and while I have always loved his writing (my high school students always deeply connected with "Why I Ring the Bell"), I also found him to be simply a profoundly thoughtful and passionate human being.

For Mr. Walker, I share this meager piece I published in Kudzu a few years ago, inspired by seeing him at a reading at Third Street Stuff:

X Speaks

On attending the Affrilachian Poets reading on April 17, 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Let us pray"

Mother patted my knee and bowed.

My flaking, bony joints rubbed one another

as my tiny fingers intertwined.

Reverend Staggs's voice swirled around the burnished pews,

pressed against the drywall and nails in the old Nazarene church ceiling.

The Word burrowed into my pores—

swelling behind my temples,

within each bone, each tendon of my tangled hands.

While unfamiliar voices shrieked supplication all around,

discordant, syncopated,

I clutched my pulse, throbbing in my neck.

Felt the Word, heard the words, shaped by his mouth.

Tonight, no altar, collection plate,

disciples hushed as they anticipate

and swirl the last spit of coffee in their cups,

watch another pastor rise.

My lids close upon his face

as his voice feels out the corners of the room.

The Word spoken aloud –

over the clinking silverware,

the murmuring laity,

the amens rising in my throat.

A Fridge Too Far

The only fake wood grain I've ever been
able to tolerate.

(Note: Unless you knew me in my twenties, this silliness is probably not worth your time. Consider yourself warned.)

People who knew me during my college days and early twenties know Jimmy.  Jimmy was my college dorm refrigerator. But that is like saying Lucille is some guitar B.B. King owns.

In the places I lived, Jimmy was the 4th or 5th roommate. He always greeted us at the door, happy to offer some aptly chosen beverage he had kept cold all day just for us.

When UK won its 6th and 7th national titles, he was there celebrating alongside us.

When I severed a tendon in my hand and trudged in from the emergency room at 3:30 A.M., he was there.¹

Whenever it is that we finally move to Lexington (have I mentioned recently there is a lovely home for sale on Windridge Drive?), he'll be along for the ride.

So, this morning, I headed over to GRC to pick him up from the classroom. The custodial staff had everything moved out of the rooms for floor waxing, so student desks, bookshelves, plastic totes, and television carts crowded the dark hallways.

I found the cluster of items from my room. Teacher desk. Table. 30 student desks. Three mismatched plastic chairs for those days when every student attended in my sections with 32 or 33 on the roster. My laughably jerry-built projector cart ².  I kept looking, but after 20 minutes of rifling through every pile of furniture, it was clear.

No Jimmy.

I couldn't find him.

I was certain he'd been stolen.  I rapidly went through all the stages of grief. Why hadn't I picked him up earlier? Just a few days earlier I'd glanced back at him when I picked up some books and a DVD, sure he would be untouched since waxing wasn't supposed to begin until July.

Noticed this sitting beside me as
I started writing 

Then, my sorrow turned to fury. I would review the security tapes. I would find whoever abducted him. I would tape his image to milk cartons.  I would contact his kidnappers and make them tremble with fear.  I pledged empty assurances into the ether: "Jimmy be strong, you survive... You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you!"³

I walked all the way out to my car.  Then I realized Tee (the greatest custodian/running coach on the planet) would have needed to defrost Jimmy, probably in the bathroom.

That's where I found him.

To Wendell, Dave, Kevin, Bruce, Stu, and so many others, I assure you I shall be a better protector of our dear friend. For now, Jimmy basks in the sun of the driveway, drying out, waiting for another home, another electrical outlet, another day.


  ¹  In fairness, I should also note that Andrea was also there that night as the person who drove me home from the hospital, got my medicine for me, and ran every errand for me for days, but it was Jimmy who looked at me that night and somehow let me know that Hard Ticket to Hawaii was on television to make everything better.

²

This day, I needed the power strip on the cart to run the DVD
player and coax-RCA converter box I acquired because
the school's DVD player didn't work and the TV is coax only.

To all the people railing about how you give too much of your paycheck
on education: you must be mistaking yourself for a teacher.

What I Always Think When I Read Wendell Berry

Reading over Wendell Berry's Jeffersonian lecture, I have the same experience I've had time and again with his work.

He possesses a profound passion for and comprehensive philosophy about the earth--devoid of a trace of clichéd language or reasoning.

His economic views are, by contrast, littered with false dilemmas and a desire to broadly criticize capitalism in moral judgments that often simply don't apply.

In some ways, he appears cantankerous for the sake of being cantankerous.  He seems to think his stubbornness in the face of technological advancement requires no justification; it has merit simply because it stands as a counterbalance to others' thoughtless embrace of technology.

Above all else, my repeated experience with Wendell Berry's writing is the realization that it is simply astonishing. Astonishing.  Every word manifests his craftsmanship.  For my money, nobody breathing today who is writing essays in English composes more forceful, economical, and electric prose.

Surely, he is not simply writing beautiful sentences; he as, as Mark Bittman said in his recent interview, "an inspiration" to leaders and the person considering our relationship to the world in ways far more complex than are commonly discussed.

But, even if you are diametrically opposed to his argument, you cannot help but admit it is offered so fearlessly and so brilliantly that you must appreciate the mind that created something so remarkable.

Movie Review for GRC School Newspaper

Note: for a teenage audience and with a roughly 300 word length limit, but thought I'd share in case anyone was considering the movie.  Enjoy.


Anonymous (PG-13)

Reading Shakespeare is one of life’s true pleasures. Is it difficult? Sure. But if you give it time, you get to encounter true brilliance.

But a small, vocal set of scholars reject the idea that such brilliance is possible from William Shakespeare—the poorly educated son of an illiterate glove maker.  They insist it must be a cover up, with Shakespeare being a front for some cultured, well-educated nobleman.  Literary lip-synching, if you will.

The new movie Anonymous promotes a popular candidate for these conspiracy theorists: Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford.  According to the movie, de Vere had been forced to hide his passion for theatre because drama was considered a low-class profession.

The film suggests de Vere (who, conveniently, had drafts of Macbeth and Hamlet just gathering dust in his office) got his catalog of plays anonymously performed in London as part of a complicated plot to determine England’s next king. 

The film’s mood is quite dark, and it could take a page from Shakespeare’s (oops, de Vere’s) playbook and include more comic relief.  The main humor comes at the expense of Shakespeare himself, who is reduced to a nasty, buffoonish character who takes credit for de Vere’s plays and tries to cash in on his undeserved fame. 

However, Anonymous has some redeeming qualities.  Beyond the political intrigue, there is a twisted romance plot and well-staged swordfights.  The film shines in its depiction of the raucous, interactive experience of seeing a play in Shakespeare’s time. 

But does Anonymous present a convincing argument? Should I tear down my classroom's Shakespeare posters and replace them with paintings of de Vere? 

Not quite. Nearly all scholars believe the historical evidence that indicates Shakespeare wrote the plays.  While the de Vere theory is interesting, it is ironic that the filmmakers argue a complex, bizarre political conspiracy is somehow easier to believe than the notion that some poor kid from Stratford just happened to be born a genius.   

Couldn't agree more...

The always thought-provoking Seth Godin talks about why our news media has degraded so pitifully.  We get what we deserve, or more accurately, what we pay for.

Been so busy teaching, I forgot to share good news...

Amidst all the rejection letters and e-mails, I've had a few pieces of good news.

First, I'm delighted to be published for the first time in one of my favorite literary journals.  My poem "Pixelated" is in the Winter 2011 issue of Appalachian Heritage.  Being in the same volume as Charles Wright is certainly humbling, but it is also an absolute honor to be in the same pages as Bianca Spriggs (whose work I find beautiful and absolutely electric) and the first two professionals who helped me to write:  Gurney Norman and Anne Shelby.   

Also, I have two poems "X Speaks" and "My Neighbor's Shame" coming out in this year's issue of Kudzu.  I love these two poems and am excited to see them in the ears and minds of more people. 

Now if I can just get a a few of these stories published someplace...

My Letter To Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell

Sent this morning. Probably will fall on deaf ears, but I can pray, can't I?  I recognize that some may bristle at the idea of Public Broadcasting being disinterested, but I think if you really spend time looking at all the productions of various Public Broadcasting outlets, you will find more powerful and well-argued conservative views than you will ever find on Fox News.
----------------------------------------------------

I have a largely fiscally conservative viewpoint.  I believe our willingness to grow government, cut tax revenues, and ignore the coming tidal wave of Social Security and Medicare costs has been a foolhardy course of action for years.  I am glad we are trying to discuss ways to fix this problem.

However,  I believe a government must make sound decisions and accommodations for the notion of a common good.  This idea of a common good is unpopular amidst the currently superficial but popular rhetoric that (rightly) celebrates the individual opportunity afforded by American liberties.  But this rhetoric also ignores the fact that those opportunities are also afforded by common sense governance that makes sure our individual, tactical actions to acquire wealth and success do not destroy a more strategic way of thinking about ourselves as a country--not just an assortment of individuals.  Government needs to play a role in making sure we do not defraud each other, discriminate against each other, and destroy the environment (natural, economic, or intellectual) where we live and work.

I am sorry, but I believe both the President and the Congress are being disingenuous right now.  Both sides talk a lot about fiscal responsibility, but neither is offering a plan for a workable future for Social Security and Medicare.  Since those two items, along with Defense, make up roughly 65% of the budget, leaving them out of the discussion clearly hurts the credibility of both sides.  So, I am writing because I believe it is wrong to loudly debate relatively minor budget items while ignoring the big ones.

Specifically, I am writing because I believe it is wrong to make the Corporation for Public Broadcasting the scapegoat in this debate.  In a world where what goes by the name of news is nothing more than liberal or conservative spin, it is vital for the intellectual environment to maintain a forum where the news can be reported and discussed without corporate interference.

I am an unabashed capitalist, but disinterested discussion of public issues is not something that serves any one business interest, so it is preposterous to rely on our free market to provide it.

Mr. McConnell, I am pleading with you to protect the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  I give you my word that I will actively work to promote those candidates who support it (regardless of party) and work to denounce those who do not.

Thank you for your time and service,
Jason M. Williams
Winchester, KY