Sentences that have stuck with me #3
Ah yes, here I am again in your inbox, sandwiched uncomfortably between emails from The Iconic and Mumbrella.
Today, sentences that shouldn’t really ‘work’ … but totally do.
I’ve always loved this lyric in John Prine’s ‘Illegal smile’. Essentially, Prine’s woken up feeling down and out, when he has a particularly sad incident with his breakfast.
“Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down … and won.”
Do bowls of cereal stare? Technically, no. Have I been stared down by a bowl of Sultana Bran? You betcha.
If you somehow haven’t seen Nora Ephron’s When Harry Met Sally, shut down your computer and go watch it. If you have seen it, shut down your computer and rewatch it. It will probably be more fun than whatever you’re doing right now.
*Warning: 32-year-old movie spoiler*
I just think it’s so cool that Nora managed to write a capital ‘h’ Hollywood ~and they kiss~ ending … where the girl tells the boy that she hates him? I’m not sure how many people in the world could have pulled that off. I guess that’s why she’s Nora Ephron and I’m just some guy yelling about her greatness into the newsletter void.
When I wonder who might be the MVP of ‘sentences that shouldn’t work, but do’, James Tate’s probably the frontrunner. This early poem is one of his least weird and most moving, written about his father who died in a plane crash. (Probably avoid reading if you’re in a public place where you don’t want to be seen weeping.) The last poem Tate ever wrote is one of his absolute weirdest. (And I really do mean “last poem”, by the way. As this Paris Review article points out, it was found finished in his typewriter soon after his death.)
“I read a book written by a dove. Great! I ate a cheeseburger everyday for a year. I never want to do that again.”
Look, it ain’t for everyone, but it does something for me.
I recently read Ben Lerner’s great essay The Hatred of Poetry. At one point he wonders whether so many adults hate poetry because it uses a childish-level of imagination and associative thought. It breaks the rules of language and messes with things in a form of ‘play’ that, as adults, we’ve been encouraged to reject. (I’m paraphrasing Lerner, really badly, but I think that was roughly what he meant … and I think he’s probably right.)
Anyway, inspired by Tate’s weirdness, here’s maybe the weirdest ‘poem’ I’ve ever written. I find it vulnerable to share something really, really silly. (Putting a decent amount of effort into something so stupid sparks some troubling questions about your life choices.) Nevertheless, here goes …
Ok, that’s it! You can devour your emails from The Iconic and Mumbrella now! I hear they’re “a tough, but ultimately rewarding read”.
Be well,
Evan.