We're nearly at the midpoint of the semester, but it feels like I've been running on the hamster wheel for years and years. Recent and upcoming readings: York College of PA, Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, University of West Georgia, US Naval Academy, Howard Community College, and the College of Southern Maryland. Oy! I am busy as a cockroach.
To add to my breathless schedule, I just hosted poet Rhina Espaillat, who gave a lovely reading at Washington College and then met with the students in my "Living Writers" course. Rhina is such a wise person, a wise writer--she's the Dominican grandmother I've never had but have always wanted--and the students were absolutely captivated by her kindness. At one point during the class, she gave a terrific explanation of the difference in process between writing a poem and translating a poem. Using an illustration on the blackboard, she showed students the kind of methodical thinking that goes into a translation, the way she breaks down a Spanish-language poem into important phrases, important images, structure, wordplay, emphasis, connotation. "I use a thesaurus and a rhyming dictionary when I translate," she said, "but I would never rely on those tools when drafting one of my own poems." Suddenly, I could see the lightbulbs blinking above the students' heads--they understood how very different these two processes are.
In the next two months, I'll host three more poets: Jill Alexander Essbaum, Harvey Hix, and Dora Malech. I'm looking forward to each visit and know that all of the complicated logistics, the planning of travel and meals and entertainment will be worth it. But, for now, I just need a nap and, later in the day, a little caffeine to wash the fuzziness from my brain. And, maybe even later in the day, there will be time for poeming and revising.
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