by Neal Whitman, Poetry Prof
Greek philosopher, Heraclitus (535 – 475 BCE) is famous for one of the most quoted statements in the history of Western Civilization: “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man. ” I am not the first, and will not be the last, to apply this universal truth to his own work. When it comes to my bailiwick, poetry, I profess …
1. No one reads the same poem twice.
2. No two people read the same poem.
Last month I was re-reading a book of poems by Korean poet, Ko Un, Ten Thousand Lives. These poems were translated by Gary Gach – I bought it when I took his haiku workshop in 2008. Ko Un started this book in prison for his political opposition where he began writing a poem for each person he could remember and continued after his release.
Now consider that when I re-read the book three years after I first read the book, I was not reading the same book because I was no longer the same person. Reading this book anew, I was struck by one poem in particular, “Hundreds of Names.” In this poem, Ko Un remembers Kim Chong-hui, a poet who signed each of his poems with a new name. Ko Un wrote,
With every page written in his sharp jagged style,
the person who wrote changed,
so how could Kim Chong-hui be just one single person?
What I now take-away is that every poem I write is by a new poet. Thus, I also profess …
3. No two of my own poems are written by the same poet.
Now, here is what is neat for me. I re-read Gary’s inscription in my copy of his book:
“For Neal Whitman who has many lives of his own.”
Whether you read or write poetry, I hope you find what is new in the New Year.