[New-Poetry] What I witnessed

[David Graham]

I haven't read CD Wright's book & have no opinion on it as poetry,  
journalism, or anything else.  I confess her work has left me cold  
for some time, but I also haven't kept up with it.

The Poetry Of Witness, though, is a phrase that I find interesting,  
in part because of its basic ambiguity, coupled with the fervor with  
which it often is deployed, both by fans and by skeptics.

Back in the late 1970s I witnessed a wonderful moment at a reading  
given by Robert Francis.  This would have been in Amherst,  
Massachusetts, at the Jones Library.  After reading a number of his  
charming, simple-seeming lyrics to the polite murmurs of the  
audience, Francis then recited a fairly strident anti-war poem--to  
enthusiastic applause.

The poet stood there, looking quizzical for a long moment (I am aware  
how studied his performance may have been), waiting for the applause  
to subside into smug silence.  Then he very delicately inquired,  
"Now, was that applause for me, for the poem, or for the sentiments  
in the poem?  You know, applause can be so ambiguous."







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David Graham
grahamd at ripon.edu

Home Page:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz

Poetry Library:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
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