A Taste of T. S. Eliot

Since the ancient Greeks to the present time poems about wine are abundant. I shall follow a different path by pairing poets and their non-wine poems to a particular grape or wine or, perhaps a drink. Hopefully,

this will provide an added understanding of the poets and their work.

   Not all poems or wine are savory. Some may be bitter, spoiled, sulfurous, or exaggerated by pomposity or chemicals. Others may be simple or sweet, full bodied and complex, or subtly mature.

   My first example reflects on the character and philosophy of T. S. Eliot,

a Nobel prized, modernist poet with a love of cats, but with a serious flaw of deep anti-semitism. 

        “The rats are underneath the piles.

        The jew is underneath the lot” *

Thus, I suggest medicinally bitter herbal wine while reading his work.

Those concoctions may be potently emetic to some, but concurrently complex and perhaps intellectually stimulating.

 *Burbank With A Baedeker, Bleistein With A Cigar    

 Elliot O. Lipchik                              

Milk Metaphors

Both Robert Hass and Wislawa Szmborska and perhaps others have written meaningful, beautiful poems about Vermeer's milkmaid painting.

As long as the milk pours, there is a future and a hope for the world. The luminous pouring white reminds
one of a reading of poetry, a continuous chorus, an expectancy of life, a nourishment for the soul, a never ending negation of evil.
Art may represent a myriad of thoughts, ideas, creations, and creativity. It instructs us to listen and observe slowly and carefully.

to be continued...
(posted by Elliot O. Lipchik)

Book Release Event, Friday (March 9)

Everyone is invited to drop by Woodland Pattern Book Center (720 E. Locust) on Friday for the 'official' debut of Portals and Piers.  We'll be celebrating the book's release, reading poems, answering questions and generally having a good time.  Reading begins at 7pm.