Drive he said
Posted: December 13, 2012 Filed under: Galleries, Private Collections | Tags: art, car, contemporary art, darkness, driving, Francesco Clemente, life, modern poetry, poetry, Robert Creeley, what I learned in ModPo, why do I feel like this at Christmas? 2 Comments
Francesco Clemente, Robert Creeley
As I sd to my
friend, because I am
always talking,—John, I
sd, which was not his
name, the darkness sur-
rounds us, what
can we do against
it, or else, shall we &
why not, buy a goddamn big car,
drive, he sd, for
christ’s sake, look
out where yr going.
Robert Creeley, “I Know a Man” from Selected Poems of Robert Creeley. Copyright © 1991
Watch the structure of this poem – how the words veer and weave. The poem itself feels like a car on the edge of control. Speeding between desperation and the need for some kind of personal efficacy against the unknown (or whatever you interpret as the “darkness”).
Clemente paints Creeley with one eye open, a wink and a nod perhaps to both his clear insight as a major modern poet and his characteristic humor in confronting life’s big hairy questions.
Enjoy both friends!
igetitart 
Loved this. I had never seen this portrait, nor read the poem, so thank-you for connecting them and exposing them.
I must thank Al Filreis of UPenn for the introduction to Creeley during the ModPo course though Coursera. And you of course for mentioning Clemente to me at dinner. More contemporary poets coming soon!