Reading 2 (Rod McKuen)

I started writing poetry in earnest in junior high. As I became more interested in the romantic poets my father would leave poem books on my bed: Emily Dickinson Love Poems and the Sonnets from the Portuguese are among my most cherished.

Shy, I rarely let anyone read my work, but at sixteen, I let a dear friend read some of my poetry. I waited for his reaction with heart held high and a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. He looked at me for the longest time before finally saying, “TiGi, you have to read this guy, listen to him, too. Rod McKuen and his The Earth, The Sea and The Sky series. You got to. Your writing reminds me of him.”

Well, I found The Sea and Home to the Sea and fell in love with the words, the poetry. It was a love affair that I held onto through the rest of my high school days. And they were angst-filled days-teenage angst of heart-break and growing pains, but worse too. My father died my senior year and for some time I had a real hard time finding my equilibrium. But McKuen’s poetry was always there for me. Whenever I cross paths with my friend I still thank him for Rod McKuen.

Soon after graduation I married. We were so broke even the thought of buying books wasn’t in our budget, Desperate, I cut coupons and use the money for books, especially McKuen’s latest.

It wasn’t long before I found myself in the red clay desert of motherhood, a breathtaking, beautiful, but fragile place, as alien as another planet sometimes. I always tried to find McKuen’s books but it wasn’t easy, then along the way I lost a lot of things. (Like myself.) No, not lost, but forgot things in the detritus of three kids, diapers, car pools, and life.

Every once in a while I would wonder what had happened to McKuen, but with little time and resources I didn’t pursue it until a few years ago. Going through my bookshelves one day I pulled down Listen to the Warm and reread the poetry that had carried me through my teenage and early married years. I fell in love with his poetry all over again. And was reminded of the person I use to be, who I still am. With the new research tool- the internet, I found A Safe Place to Land.

Low and behold, there was McKuen with new poems and old, like an old friend. The rereading of these poems has refreshed me; reminded me of the girl I was, given me back something lost in the absence of reading poetry. It’s opened me to reading new poets and old, steeping a few minutes of every day with the sound, look, music of poetry.

No matter what you’re writing read poetry everyday and see if it doesn’t open you up to new words, new ways of looking at things. See if your writing doesn’t improve. I think it will.

By the way, my three kids did survive the desert, too.

Check out Rod McKuen’s poetry here.