Big Frank was in Seattle for work on Friday, but did manage to get to a place that he has been meaning to visit for some time, an all-poetry bookstor. Open Books: A Poem Emporium is owned and operated by Christine Deavel and John Marshall. It is one of only two all-poetry bookstores in all of the United States. What a great place! It may be small - only around 500 sq. feet, but within are over 9,000 volumes of poetry, and books about poetry. Big Frank restrained himself, and only bought five poetry volumes by the following poets: Russell Edson, Fred Chappell, C.K. Williams, and two by Tony Hoagland. Below is an excerpt from Edson and Chappell.
L'Amoureuse
by Paul Eluard (translated by Fred Chappell)
Upon my eyelids she stands
And her hair is mingled with mine;
She has the shape of my hands;
She has the color of my eyes;
In my shadow she is swallowed
Like a stone against the skies.
Her eyes are open always,
And so I cannot sleep.
Her dreams in full daylight
Evaporate the suns
And make me laugh and make me cry
And babble babble thoughtlessly.
---------
The Dummies
by Russell Edson
A contortionist had twisted himself in such a way as to be suddenly sitting on his own knee.
His wife said, What's that on your knee?
Embarrassed, the twisted contortionist said, It's my dummy.
Why is it sitting on your knee?
I'm making it talk.
And what is it saying? she said.
It's saying what I give it to say.
But why do you need a dummy, when anything it says you're saying anyway? she said.
Becasue I'm a ventriloquist.
But every time the dummy speaks you both move your lips. So who can tell which dummy is the dummy who's making the other dummy speak?
L'Amoureuse
by Paul Eluard (translated by Fred Chappell)
Upon my eyelids she stands
And her hair is mingled with mine;
She has the shape of my hands;
She has the color of my eyes;
In my shadow she is swallowed
Like a stone against the skies.
Her eyes are open always,
And so I cannot sleep.
Her dreams in full daylight
Evaporate the suns
And make me laugh and make me cry
And babble babble thoughtlessly.
---------
The Dummies
by Russell Edson
A contortionist had twisted himself in such a way as to be suddenly sitting on his own knee.
His wife said, What's that on your knee?
Embarrassed, the twisted contortionist said, It's my dummy.
Why is it sitting on your knee?
I'm making it talk.
And what is it saying? she said.
It's saying what I give it to say.
But why do you need a dummy, when anything it says you're saying anyway? she said.
Becasue I'm a ventriloquist.
But every time the dummy speaks you both move your lips. So who can tell which dummy is the dummy who's making the other dummy speak?
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