Icarus Also Flew

Poems for the People

It is difficult
to get the news from poems
     yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
 

These lines in William Carlos Williams' poem Asphodel are one of the principal reasons I make art - also, why I read poetry. The fact that they were written by a man who also practiced medicine his entire career underscores their significance. 

However, one of the problems with poetry is that reading it oneself can at times be a shadow of the proper experience - much like looking at Caravaggio paintings in a textbook. Poems for the People is the cure to this. A periodic podcast highlighting some of the best poetry, Poems for the People are read out loud by my good friend Mischa Willett. He is an accomplished poet and is perhaps the most gifted reader of poetry I have ever heard (with the possible exception of the poet Li-Young Lee). On several occasions I've had the chance to compare his readings to readings by the authors themselves, and lets just say that many of them would do well to hire Mr. Willett to teach them how to read their own work. 

If you enjoy poetry, and especially if you don't, I encourage you to check out Poems for the People. 

P.S. Elizabeth Lucy Conway wrote a great little piece about the experience of teaching this poem called: Required Reading: The Medicine of Poetry. Check it out. 

some photographs

a note about the composition and framing of these:

One of my archenemies is the question "what is this?" It is most people's first response to a photograph (and most art for that matter) and often impedes their ability to resonate with art. In the words of Italian designer Bruno Munari: "The biggest hindrance / to understanding a work of art / is wanting to understand." [And now the part where I worry that I will say too much.] When faced with an image of an aircraft most people will ask, "what is this?" If they were born after 1901 and have had the chance to see them before, they'll quickly answer "an airplane." If they are particularly interested in aviation, they might try and identify the type of aircraft. Alternatively, they might comment on the quality of the photograph. In an effort to avoid that conversation, I've composed these images as I have. My hope is this will force us to ask different types of questions. 

Enjoy.