Lovers and Other Poets

     When it comes to connecting the dots, more often than not, I can be a little slow, decades behind in fact. 

 

     For example, in assembling this upcoming chapbook with my friend and fellow poet Guy Reed, I attempted to gather up what credits I could for some of the poems included. “A Cup For Enid,” first appeared in for Enid with love, a festschrift for Enid Dame published by NYQ Books in 2010. I flipped again through the collection, and reread Donald Lev’s introduction to Enid’s life and work.

     Again, Donald mentions in passing what must have been a grueling occupation, his time as a cabdriver in New York City. Poets have been known to work all kinds of jobs to keep themselves in ink and paper, and Donald and Enid were no exceptions. Enid even taught for a time at NJIT and Rutgers, commuting from their upstate home to do so. Retail and temp work were go-tos for me, but I also did ten years at Cosmodemonic Communications, the main source of my current solvency.  

     One of my favorite poems of Enid’s is also one of her most memorable, and considered by many to be her signature piece. It first appeared in a chapbook published by Cross-Cultural Communications in 1989 called Lilith and Her Demons. Donald reveals in his introduction to the festschrift that “Lilith” was written at a time of great turmoil for Enid, the end of her first marriage, and by implication the beginning of her time with Lev. In one passage, she says, 

now

    I work in New Jersey

    take art lessons

    live with a cabdriver

     It has taken me twenty years to realize who the cabdriver was and is. Duh.

     Partners, lovers, intellectual equals—Enid and Donald’s romance is my ideal. Except for Enid’s premature death in 2003, what more could one aspire to? 

*For Enid With Love & Home Planet News*

I received in the mail yesterday morning a copy of a new festschrift, or collection of writings dedicated to a scholar of note. For Enid With Love is for Enid Dame, and saying I'm pleased and honored to be included doesn't begin to express my appreciation. Enid Dame and Donald Lev were the founders of Home Planet News, an old-style tabloid that features poetry, short stories and essays. Their politics is apparent in Donald's notes at the beginning of each issue, but they never dominate or infringe on the writings therein. Since 1979 Home Planet News has appeared sporadically throughout New York City and the Hudson Valley, and since Enid's death in 2003, Donald has continued on alone, supported by a faithful group of editors and supporters.

Also included in the festscrift (a word I became familiar with during the time I worked for Norman Levine at Editions, his eclectic used and rare book business based in Boiceville, NY) are such heavyweights as Ed Sanders, Bob Holman and Janine Pomme Vega. Hudson Valley poets include Larry Carr and Matt Spireng, among others. I was familiar with Enid and Donald from hearing them at readings, sporadic chats afterwards, and of course, their publication. I was thoroughly intimidated by both of them, not because they were overbearing or arrogant people, but because they were so thoroughly accomplished in their art. Their average Bohemian style, Enid in her Mexican embroidered dresses, Donald in his suspenders and scuffed totes full of newspapers and chapbooks, belied their finely crafted poetry.

Ultimately, I and a couple other friends hired Enid for a private poetry workshop, not long before she died, as it turned out. Her insight into the art of the midrashic poem, a concept she borrowed from Jewish intellectuals and made her own, was also a peek into her own creative process. I should have recorded it, but only have my usual illegible notes to remember it by. Who knew it would be my last chance to work so intimately with Enid? I regret allowing my shyness to rob me of years of her acquaintance that could have been more productive, for me at least.

But, no one can take her poems away, and For Enid With Love includes a teasing sample of her work. I have only started it, after having of course checked the spelling in my own contribution (looks OK), but I look forward to reading more, seeing what I miss, mourning with the others that this bright talent, warm soul departed much, much too early. For Enid With Love can be purchased directly from the publisher, NYQ Books, at www.nyqbooks.org for $16.95.

Meanwhile, Donald struggles financially in these lean times to produce every issue of Home Planet News. This accounts for its even more sporadic appearances throughout the course of the year. A fundraiser is coming up in November at the Bohemian Book Bin in Kingston (http://www.bohemianbookbin.com/), but don't feel compelled to wait that long to subscribe, or contribute. 3 issues are $12, and a special sustaining subscription is just $50 for life. Send your checks to: Home Planet News, PO Box 455, High Falls, NY 12440. Or, catch Donald at one of the many Hudson Valley readings he attends every month. His presence continues to enlighten and delight us, as does Enid's memory.