Drowning in Robert Creeley

Robert Creeley: Selected Poems, 1945-2005
edited by Benjamin Friedlander
$21.95, University of California Press

I continue to describe my discovery of the poet Robert Creeley as "drowning". I feel entirely sucked under the weight of his words, despite their simplicity and sameness. A number of his poems stand out for me for reasons having more to do with initial gut reactions than to anything I may or may not know about poetry.

He writes...

of the transience of subtle experiences in Things to Do in Tokyo

Begin at the beginning,
find the end.
Remember everything

forget it. Go on,
and on. Find ecstasy,
forget it.

of longing in A Form of Women

I could not touch you.
I wanted very much to
touch you
but could not.

of enduring love in The Act of Love

How dear
you are

to me, how love-
ly all your body is, how

all these
senses do
commingle, so

that in your very
arms I still
can think of you.

And of old age, and impending death in Old Song

I'm feeling ok still in some small way.
I've come too far to just go away.
I wish I could stay here some way.

So that what now comes wouldn't only be more
of what's to be lost. What's left would still leave more
to come if one didn't rush to get there.

Then we have the poem which should be every writer's prayer: End

End of page,
end of this

company -- wee
notebook kept

my mind in hand,
let the world stay

open to me
day after day,

words to say,
things to be.

The number of shining, beautiful poems in this insightful collection is to great to share them all with you here. This is only a taste. Pick it up. Read straight through to experience Creeley's changing perspectives on life, love, loss and eventual aging and death. It is a timeline of a soul that will not leave yours unaffected.

Take A Little Trip

by Denise Dee

I love to read about people's journeys- both physical and interior travels. When you get right down to it a lot of books seem to be about quests. Books that cover spiritual terrain can be hard sells because people think the writing might be boring or pious. These books are anything but.

The Year of Living Bibically- One Man's Humble Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs. Jacobs is an agnostic. So we know going into the book that it's going to be funny. I had no idea how profound it would be as he examines lying, polygamy, faith, and gratitude among other 'laws' or 'rules' of the bible. He takes us to visit the Amish, Lubavitchers, Creationists and a few other groups that take the bible literally. Jacobs wife Julie is not real thrilled with the project. And as he takes to the streets of Manhattan in a white robe, sandals, payot and a long beard you have to wonder if their marriage will last.

Longing for Darkness - Tara and The Black Madonna by China Galland. Galland journeys from the Catholicism of her childhood, through alcoholism, meditation and eventually to Tibetan Buddhism. Galland makes pilgrimages to Tibet and Czestochowa to see Tara and The Black Madonna. Along the way we make stops in Galland's childhood. This is deeply moving story about the longing deep within for both the feminine face of the divine and an understanding of mothers.

My Life in Orange by Tim Guest. Guest was raised in a series of Rajneesh houses and communes. Imagine the confusion of a small boy who is only allowed to wear clothes in the color of the sun and who is not allowed to live in the same room as his mother. Guest shows us his mothers journey as a seeker and the daily life of the Rajneeshee. Photographs taken by Guest's father are scattered throughout the book adding a layer of poignance as we see the 'family' on film versus the collection of individuals that are trying to come together but do not quite know how to do it.

The Red Book by Sera Beak. This would be a great book to give to a young spiritual seeker as Beak is both irreverant and serious about her path though different religions and beliefs. She includes rituals, meditations, sex, laughter and other 'tools' you can use on your journey to go discover the divine within. She celebrates your inner goddess and goddesses from many paths. She is eclectic and I think of this a cookbook for the soul.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. My favorite book of 2006. Gilbert has a breakdown (or breakthrough depending on your p.o.v.) and leaves a rather comfortable life to spend a year- you guessed it- eating, praying and loving. She travels to Italy, India, and Indonesia. I was calling and e-mailing people with quotes from this book and laughing quite loudly. I know it's a best seller, don't let that turn you off, it's well worth reading. She says at one point in the book- I know an unexamined life is not worth living, but can I just have an unexamined lunch? Anyone that spends time questioning their motives and interior lives should find something to relate to in this book

The Spiritual Life of Children by Robert Coles. Coles is a psychologist who is a self admitted skeptic about anything non-rational. He decides to travel to different countries and have children draw pictures about their ideas of God and their beliefs. The words and drawings of the children are mind-blowing and just as interesting is that Coles includes his own doubts about what the children are telling him. This is a fascinating book that covers everything from dreams about Elvis to a furry hand of God reaching down from the sky to 'fix' things.