Okay now…where should i start? i might as well start at the beginning. my name is John Yamrus and i’ve been asked to write a rather loosely structured poetry column for Short Story Library. this is a bit of a noble experiment that may or may not fall flat on its face.

first off…let’s get the problem of the punctuation out of the way. i’m a two-fingered typer and have been writing that way for 38 years. caps slow me down. it started out with my second novel. i had the manuscript ready and sent it off the my publisher as is…as i typed it…no caps. i figured it was a draft and we had plenty of time to take care of formalities. well, he kind of liked how it looked and how it fit in with the laid back story and he kept it in. since then it’s become sort of a habit with me. pretty much all of my books are in lower case now, with the exception of proper names (when i think of it).

now that we’ve managed to get that safely out of the way, i’ll continue. i was asked to write a more or less regular column about anything i wanted, as long as it marginally pertained to poetry. i was encouraged to post poems from my books and newer poems as well. i said i’d be happy and honoured to do that, but instead of boring the hell out of people with poem after poem after poem, that what i’d really like to do is write the occasional book review or articles about certain poets or publishers who i feel deserve to have a wider audience. there’s a ton of them out there…people with talent and drive who have been doing this for as long or even longer than i have, who (for whatever reasons) have never managed to expand their readership beyond a certain niche audience. i know of men and women who have had thousands of poems published in magazines around the world and i’d be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that if you heard their name you wouldn’t have the first clue as to who they are, or what they do.

some of these writers may have slightly larger audiences than others, but for the most part, you’re not going to know them. i encourage you…no, i humbly ask you…that if you’re in the least bit interested in any of the writers that i’m going to discuss in the upcoming columns, that you check them out…go online and do a search…find their publishers and order some of their books. show your support. people tend to forget that publishers for the most part are only in this to make money, and by buying these people’s books you’ll help keep the publishers interested in them and they’ll be able to continue doing what they do so very well.

some of my next few columns will contain articles that i’ve already written and published elsewhere (both online and in print)…but i’m reprinting them here because these people need and deserve as much exposure as i can bring to them. The first person i have the honour to bring to your attention is Gerald Locklin, one of the most prolific and talented poets of this generation. since 1965 or so he’s published somewhere around 130 books, mostly books of his excellent poetry, but he’s also published novels and some of the most spot-on literary criticism you’d ever care to read. oddly enough, this article is one of those rare ones in which i respect the rules of capitalization. that was probably done out of my huge respect and admiration for the man. i hope you like what you read….

A kinda/sorta review of Gerald Locklin’s New Orleans, Chicago, And Points Elsewhere

by John Yamrus

New Orleans, Chicago, and Points Elsewhere, by Gerald Locklin
Rv Press
www.rvpress.net
$11.95
94pp
ISBN: 0-9787983-0-9

I’ve known Gerald Locklin for 30 years now. Back then I was managing a clothing store in Reading, Pennsylvania and publishing a cheap literary quarterly that leaned toward poetry because that’s what I wanted and that’s what I did. Distribution for the magazine was small…the number of subscriptions was even smaller. But every couple of months I’d get a stack of poems sent to me by Locklin, who by that time was already a big name in the underground press. And, gentleman that he is, he wouldn’t just submit his poems, he would also write these long, wonderfully chatty and informative letters about anything and nothing…about the water dripping in his sink and about the literary lions he’d occasionally meet up with. Anything. Nothing. Things that meant a lot to someone publishing an under-appreciated and hardly read little magazine. I can’t tell you how much I looked forward to those letters and those poems. The poems were fresh and vibrant and funny and alive. The letters, equally so.Now, all these years later, he’s still turning out some of the most consistently good poetry you’ll ever hope to find. It’s astonishing to me to think that he’s published somewhere around 130 books. Not only that, but California State University in its Locklin collection has catalogued more than 3,000 of his published poems! That’s just the ones they’ve found! My guess is the real number is significantly higher.

His newest book of poetry is called NEW ORLEANS, CHICAGO, AND POINTS ELSEWHERE. The poems in this 94 page volume are arranged roughly around the cities in which the action in the poems takes place. For my money, Locklin always seemed to be at his best when writing about either great art or great jazz (he’s a knowledgeable connoisseur of both) and the central section of this book is titled CHICAGO AND THE ART INSTITUTE. In it, he writes some pretty slick stuff about his visits to the Institute. I’ll quote one of my favorites in its entirety:

monet was one prolific motherf****er

all those haystacks,
all those lilies,
all those seascapes,
all those twilights on the thames…

as opposed to poor seurat,
known for one painting
(and a musical)
and caillebotte,
mainly for two,
(so far no musical).

but if you’re only going to be known
for a couple of great works,
you might as well make them
big ones.

and hope they end up centerpieces -
logos -
of a great collection.

Such a relaxed style. The man doesn’t even bother with capitals. It’s like he’s just talking to you…one on one…conversationally…friend to friend. Work like this – in fact, Locklin’s entire career as a writer – has contributed greatly to the humanization and demystification of modern poetry.

Aw, heck, I can’t resist quoting another poem from the book:

as time goes by

i speak to strangers
all the time now,
out of the blue,
impetuously,
hesitating only momentarily,
unable to stop myself,
on planes,
at the ymca pool,
in bookstores,
crossing campus.

i ask about the food they’re eating,
the wine or beer they’ve selected,
their destination, the weather,
the book they’re reading,
life in general.

to the woman who is on the flight
back from grading
advanced placement essays
in Daytona beach,
i say, of the power and the glory,
“that’s a great book.”

“unh-hunh,” she says,
and goes back to her reading.

well, how was i supposed to compete
with a great book like that?

No big deal here…no attempts to write the Great American Poem. This is just Locklin going through his day, showing us what life is all about. He’s been doing it for 40 years.

If you’ve never read a book of poems by Gerald Locklin…NEW ORLEANS, CHICAGO, AND POINTS ELSEWHERE is as good a place as any to start.

About the Author

John Yamrus

Since 1970 John Yamrus has published 2 novels and 15 volumes of poetry.  More than 900 of his poems have appeared in magazines around the world.  Selections of his work have been translated into several languages, most recently, Romanian.