Sam Hamill (1942–2018)

This book made me cry on the city bus as I rode in to work. This book inspired me to begin a poetry reading series. This book, at turns, left me inspired, heartbroken, melting, angry, satisfied, learned, ready to fight, and hopeful. This book is worth reading for anyone who cares about the diversity of voices in and around America, for anyone who reads poetry, for anyone who writes poetry, for anyone who thinks poetry is outdated, crestfallen, or not enough.

In 2003, First Lady Laura Bush show more planned to host a White House Symposium on "Poetry and the American Voice", and she invited a number of poets to speak to "the voice" of American poetry. Poets declined, protesting the White House's actions in their rejection of the invitation, and Laura Bush cancelled the symposium. Her spokeswoman said, "While Mrs. Bush respects the right of all Americans to express their opinions, she, too, has opinions and believes it would be inappropriate to turn a literary event into a political forum." Sam Hamill was one of the poets invited to speak, and he declined. "Having only recently read George Bush's proposed 'Shock and Awe' attack plan for Iraq, which called for saturation bombing", his response was to instead address a letter to "Friends and Fellow Poets", asking for poems or statements of conscience. Over 13,000 poems were sent. This anthology appeared in the place of Laura Bush's symposium, and still stands as well worth the reading, returning to, and sharing.

One of the beauties of this anthology is that well-known poets (among them, notably, are Adrienne Rich, Hayden Carruth, Robert Bly, W. S. Merwin, Rita Dove, and Jane Hirshfield) appear alongside unknown names, some of them children. In this collection, the simple joins forces with the heavily allusioned and political, the documentary with the lyrical, the heartbroken with the angry, the young with the old, and the historical with the new. The juxtaposition of voices is not only powerful, but necessary and remarkable. In some cases, the poems were written in response to Hamill's call for poems, and in other cases, poems were written years before by veterans of WWII and the Vietnam War--and yet, they speak to the historical moment of this book, and to the respective quests for peace and war that are seemingly unending.

Simply, this book is both inflammatory and necessary, and it is worth reading and sharing. show less

Eros, playing among the roses,
didn't see the bee.
Stung, he howled,
he screamed to Aphrodite,

"I'm dying! Mother! I'm dying!
I was bitten by
a snake with wings!"
And she kissed him and replied,

"It will pass. It was only a bee,
my darling, but think
how long the suffering
of all those who feel your sting."

The above poem by Anakreon, one of my favorites, is one included in this exceptionally beautiful collection of poems from Ancient Greece. The translator, Sam Hamill, has included poems from show more Sapphon, Alcaeus, Anakreon, and Paulus Silentiarius. In addition there is a selection of lyrical and love poems from several different sources ranging from Bacchykides and Likymnios to Meleager, Rufinus, and Marcus Argentarius. While the collection is small the poems invite the reader to delight in them again and again. show less

Hamill, "Poetry often says what cannot be said in prose. It was used for argument, description, ceremony, memorialization, and some were even koans...Poetry is most capable of capturing the essence of a moment's experience. 99% accuracy in poetry is not as good as silence. A good poem says more than the sum of its words, leading the reader into the practice of understanding the great unsaid that is contained, framed in a poem's rhythms, words and silences. In these ways, poetry opens the show more mind."

Asian influenced poetry is among my favorite poetry. At first glance, it may seem fragmentary, transient. But its purpose is as an assist to meditative practice. Hence, the koan. Somehow, when a poem touches back to nature it solidifies it in our consciousness. It grounds us to the oneness of all that is. It's a great anchor to the spiritual practice of poetry writing. This form of writing can have a healing effect. show less

Is there anything MORE erotic than poetry? I'm not sure. Something about the metaphors, the language, the simplicity, and usually the shortness of poems, seems to concentrate and distill the sensuality, love, and longing more than any other form. I think Sam did a great job of spanning the centuries and pulling from many sources. This is a great anthology.