Page 15 - Vol V. #8

a symbol of capitalism and that he was disap- pointed in us for not making that connection. He said he couldn’t believe how naïve we were about political poetry, as the robin, for him, has always been associated with the wealth of the United States. He said he was disappointed in us as read- ers, his temper rising. He called us bourgeois, ill-informed, misguided and apathetic. He won- dered why he even bothered to bring his poem to a class of such ignoramuses. We wondered what to say, and turned to our teacher, who said, “Po- etry allows a success for everyone at the limits
hair, had bought a plot in the Provincetown grave- yard. But a few weeks later, Cutler discovered
the plot alongside Robert Motherwell was avail- able, and he switched his gravesite to be near the celebrated artist. Proving there is social climbing even in the afterlife.
of the autonomy of the will, to enact its purposes by other means.” He paused. “But I’m afraid this poem doesn’t do that.”
Art: the struggle between what we want to do and what we are able to do. Like being very young or very old.
My friend the gravedigger told me that a sculptor named Cutler whose work consisted entirely of
Skoyles has published six books of poetry. He also has authored two books of non ction, Generous Strangers, and Secret Frequencies: A New York Education. His autobiographical novel, A Moveable Famine: A Life in Poetry, was published in 2014. He currently teaches in the Writing, Literature and Publishing Department of Emerson College, and is the poetry editor of Ploughshares literary magazine.
Excerpted from The Nut File, published by Quale Press 2017.
6
Walking Meditation
acrylic and oil on canvas 36'' x 36'' By Emilia Dubicki