November 16th, 2009 / 12:32 pm
Behind the Scenes

Ruth Lilly Fellows

11_2009_CoverThis month’s issue of Poetry features a buncha dudes/dudettes who won the Ruth Lilly Fellowship, which if you are like me and had no fuckclue what that means it means they got paid $15 grand for being writers. Awesome, right? People should get money for making words (truly). Let’s look at some of these fifteen-thousand dollar words, no?

Sifting in the Afternoon
by Malachi Black

Some people might describe this room as spare:
a bedside table and an ashtray and an antique

chair; a mattress and a coffee mug;
an unwashed cotton blanket and a rug

my mother used to own. I used to have
a phone. I used to have another

room, a bigger broom, a wetter sponge.
I used to water my bouquet

of paper clips and empty pens, of things
I thought I’d want to say if given chance;

but now, to live, to sit somehow, to watch
a particle of thought dote on the dust

and dwindle in a little grid of shadow
on the sunset’s patchy rust seems like enough.

Oh, whoops. Seriously?

How did that blank piece of regurgitated dog anal win the moneys? Surely there are kids in 8th grade writing more interesting pap than that, yeah?

Hold on, let’s take a little look at old Malachi (pen name?)’s bio:

Malachi Black is literary editor of the New York Quarterly and a James A. Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. His work appears widely.

Oh, gotcha.

Excuse me, I was going to write a bunch more about these people, but now I have to take a blood dump, and there are plenty of sitcoms already on TV.

Thanks for killing America a little bit harder, Poetry Magazine.

Sometimes I kinda miss Foetry.

(P.S. If anybody wants to write up a close reading of this poem, or any of the other Ruth Lilly pieces in Poetry, please send it over and we’ll probably run it.)

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65 Comments

  1. Matt Cozart

      I used to have the wettest sponge in all the land. Be that as it may, Lilly has two l’s. It doesn’t matter, I know. It just *is*.

  2. Matt Cozart

      I used to have the wettest sponge in all the land. Be that as it may, Lilly has two l’s. It doesn’t matter, I know. It just *is*.

  3. Blake Butler

      i fixed the 2’s Ls

      i have the wettest sponge in all the land anytime i eat old avacado

  4. Blake Butler

      i fixed the 2’s Ls

      i have the wettest sponge in all the land anytime i eat old avacado

  5. Shya

      “I used to have another

      room, a bigger broom, a wetter sponge.”

      This is actually a fantastic line.

  6. Shya

      “I used to have another

      room, a bigger broom, a wetter sponge.”

      This is actually a fantastic line.

  7. Graham

      Don’t the Michener Fellows already get, like, $20,000+ just for living? I think the argument for spreading the limited money available to writers widely makes itself.

  8. Graham

      Don’t the Michener Fellows already get, like, $20,000+ just for living? I think the argument for spreading the limited money available to writers widely makes itself.

  9. davidpeak

      how much do you have to publish before your work “appears widely?”

  10. davidpeak

      how much do you have to publish before your work “appears widely?”

  11. Rebekah

      Agreed.

  12. Rebekah

      Agreed.

  13. michael james

      I like Malachi Black… but last year’s Fellows were much more interesting. I mean, Nicky Beer & Roger Reeves. Those people can take some heads off. Off Nicky’s poems in there alone I’ve been following her since. I wasn’t as impressed this time around. Peep out Roger’s folio in the 2008 fellows issue. Seriously. Made me wanna write better….

  14. michael james

      I like Malachi Black… but last year’s Fellows were much more interesting. I mean, Nicky Beer & Roger Reeves. Those people can take some heads off. Off Nicky’s poems in there alone I’ve been following her since. I wasn’t as impressed this time around. Peep out Roger’s folio in the 2008 fellows issue. Seriously. Made me wanna write better….

  15. Mather Schneider

      Complete nullity, a soul suck…this is a perfect example of a poem 100 percent (half-ass) craft and zero percent substance. I could live for three years on 15 grand…

  16. Ryan Call

      i like ekstrands blossom poems

  17. Mather Schneider

      Complete nullity, a soul suck…this is a perfect example of a poem 100 percent (half-ass) craft and zero percent substance. I could live for three years on 15 grand…

  18. Ryan Call

      i like ekstrands blossom poems

  19. Mather Schneider

      What’s fantastic about it? The fact that broom rhymes with room?

  20. michael james
  21. Mather Schneider

      What’s fantastic about it? The fact that broom rhymes with room?

  22. michael james
  23. Nathan Tyree

      my works appears widely, but it’s just because I use a big font

  24. michael james

      I was confused…. were they “really” his or translations?

  25. Nathan Tyree

      my works appears widely, but it’s just because I use a big font

  26. michael james

      I was confused…. were they “really” his or translations?

  27. Mather Schneider

      Did a poet write this or a PC poetry machine? It’s just PC imagery arranged in PC lines, milking sympathy, gotta throw the plight of the black man in there, got end the poem with a clever trick. No humor, no personality, no stamp, no energy, no fire, nothing. Perfectly publishable.

  28. Mather Schneider

      Did a poet write this or a PC poetry machine? It’s just PC imagery arranged in PC lines, milking sympathy, gotta throw the plight of the black man in there, got end the poem with a clever trick. No humor, no personality, no stamp, no energy, no fire, nothing. Perfectly publishable.

  29. drew kalbach

      was going to agree, because i misread ‘bigger broom’ as ‘bigger room’ and really liked the repetition of room that lead into the strange and surprising ‘a wetter sponge’, but unfortunately it isn’t that way, and i’m sad.

  30. drew kalbach

      was going to agree, because i misread ‘bigger broom’ as ‘bigger room’ and really liked the repetition of room that lead into the strange and surprising ‘a wetter sponge’, but unfortunately it isn’t that way, and i’m sad.

  31. drew kalbach

      seriously? you found that PC? i’m surprised.

  32. drew kalbach

      seriously? you found that PC? i’m surprised.

  33. Mather Schneider

      The best rhyme for any word, as Paul Muldoon teaches us, is the same word repeated.

  34. Mather Schneider

      The best rhyme for any word, as Paul Muldoon teaches us, is the same word repeated.

  35. michael james

      It has fire. And personality. And energy. The humor is lacking because the subject and situation doesnt require humor.

      So every poem I write which speaks to the issues of the Brown man in America (because, let’s face it, I am not black, I am brown. Quite literally), is milking something? This means I “gotta throw the plight of the black man in there”? I actually don’t see a lot of this in contemporary poetry, until recently. Where it’s dealt with in a different way. Not the same Nikki G. or Amiri Baraka. Less Gwendolyn Brooks, maybe the better term is a more clear version of Gwendolyn almost… “can the lynched man hung
      from the sails of a windmill taste the lead pipe wedged
      between his lips:”

      For real man? That’s not passionate, that doesn’t have energy? Maybe it is because I am reading it as an African-American, and I am reading it with a clenched jaw, a snarl-look on my face, my hand a tension fist, eyes squinted. I’m reading this with Nina Simone’s version of ‘Strange Fruit’ playing in my head. I could damn near spill tears by how much this poem fires me up. I mean, I’d love to get into a discussion with you regarding the issues writers of specific ethnicities face, because for you to throw in ‘gotta throw the plight of the black man in there’ so flippantly….

      Sure, you can assume that some of the language has appeared in published journals/periodicals, but some of the language has not. It depends where on the spectrum you inhabit, or which words the poem needed.

      Your claim of perfectly publishable could be applied to any of the poems you yourself have published…. like “County” which I read almost two months ago after discovering your blog and finding your writing and thoughts on poetry to be interesting. This isn’t an attack on your poem, more of how your own position can be reflected back to your own work — and it shouldn’t be, because your poem is a good poem.

      To assume your poetic position is that of a “higher poet” because you do not write like other poets do, is… well crazy. I look at the poems I am preparing for my manuscript and I realize there is no where I can publish them, besides in book form. What I’m writing right now is simply not being published. Period. But I can still dig other peoples work, even if they do reside in a different “poetic area”, or have aligned themselves with a particular camp.

      Anyway man…

  36. michael james

      It has fire. And personality. And energy. The humor is lacking because the subject and situation doesnt require humor.

      So every poem I write which speaks to the issues of the Brown man in America (because, let’s face it, I am not black, I am brown. Quite literally), is milking something? This means I “gotta throw the plight of the black man in there”? I actually don’t see a lot of this in contemporary poetry, until recently. Where it’s dealt with in a different way. Not the same Nikki G. or Amiri Baraka. Less Gwendolyn Brooks, maybe the better term is a more clear version of Gwendolyn almost… “can the lynched man hung
      from the sails of a windmill taste the lead pipe wedged
      between his lips:”

      For real man? That’s not passionate, that doesn’t have energy? Maybe it is because I am reading it as an African-American, and I am reading it with a clenched jaw, a snarl-look on my face, my hand a tension fist, eyes squinted. I’m reading this with Nina Simone’s version of ‘Strange Fruit’ playing in my head. I could damn near spill tears by how much this poem fires me up. I mean, I’d love to get into a discussion with you regarding the issues writers of specific ethnicities face, because for you to throw in ‘gotta throw the plight of the black man in there’ so flippantly….

      Sure, you can assume that some of the language has appeared in published journals/periodicals, but some of the language has not. It depends where on the spectrum you inhabit, or which words the poem needed.

      Your claim of perfectly publishable could be applied to any of the poems you yourself have published…. like “County” which I read almost two months ago after discovering your blog and finding your writing and thoughts on poetry to be interesting. This isn’t an attack on your poem, more of how your own position can be reflected back to your own work — and it shouldn’t be, because your poem is a good poem.

      To assume your poetic position is that of a “higher poet” because you do not write like other poets do, is… well crazy. I look at the poems I am preparing for my manuscript and I realize there is no where I can publish them, besides in book form. What I’m writing right now is simply not being published. Period. But I can still dig other peoples work, even if they do reside in a different “poetic area”, or have aligned themselves with a particular camp.

      Anyway man…

  37. Justin Taylor

      michael, “Mather Schneider” is just some troll we have. There have been many before him, and will doubtless be many more after. They get bored after a while or else we figure out how to ban their ip’s eventually. Just ignore him.

  38. Justin Taylor

      michael, “Mather Schneider” is just some troll we have. There have been many before him, and will doubtless be many more after. They get bored after a while or else we figure out how to ban their ip’s eventually. Just ignore him.

  39. Mather Schneider

      Michael, I never said I was a “higher poet”. But I write about what I know, and this poet knows no more about what a hanged man looks like or what a man smells like burning than you or I. If he did he wouldn’t write such comfortably crafted poetry with the latin names of animals as titles. How academic can you get? The quote about the man hanging from the windmill is not passionate in my mind, it is cliche. Passion to me means personal involvment, not historical empathy. The imagery is guaranteed acceptable because of poetic precedent and pc orthodoxy. In fact just by writing this I will probably be labeled a racist.

      Good luck on your book.

  40. Mather Schneider

      Michael, I never said I was a “higher poet”. But I write about what I know, and this poet knows no more about what a hanged man looks like or what a man smells like burning than you or I. If he did he wouldn’t write such comfortably crafted poetry with the latin names of animals as titles. How academic can you get? The quote about the man hanging from the windmill is not passionate in my mind, it is cliche. Passion to me means personal involvment, not historical empathy. The imagery is guaranteed acceptable because of poetic precedent and pc orthodoxy. In fact just by writing this I will probably be labeled a racist.

      Good luck on your book.

  41. Mather Schneider

      It’s pretty easy to ban my IP address if you really want to, Justin.

  42. Mather Schneider

      It’s pretty easy to ban my IP address if you really want to, Justin.

  43. reynard

      indeed, they do.

      the judges for this fellowship probably have cataracts. i’d like to see some of the things that were turned down. let’s see those.

  44. reynard

      indeed, they do.

      the judges for this fellowship probably have cataracts. i’d like to see some of the things that were turned down. let’s see those.

  45. Mather Schneider

      Justin Taylor, working with the Nation, academic genius, writer of meaningless verse, we’ll see who gets bored and disappears first.

  46. Mather Schneider

      Justin Taylor, working with the Nation, academic genius, writer of meaningless verse, we’ll see who gets bored and disappears first.

  47. darby

      htmlgiant bans people’s ips?

  48. darby

      htmlgiant bans people’s ips?

  49. Justin Taylor

      @darby- only once, actually, but that was a very, very special case. mather is free to rant and spew bile as long as he pleases.

  50. Justin Taylor

      @darby- only once, actually, but that was a very, very special case. mather is free to rant and spew bile as long as he pleases.

  51. Mather Schneider

      By the grace of Justin…

  52. Mather Schneider

      By the grace of Justin…

  53. EC

      “I used to have another

      room, a bigger broom, a wetter sponge.”

      Actually there’s an typo in BB’s rendition: In the breathtaking original, “sponge” reads “spooge.” It’s to go with the sexual symbolism of the “bigger broom” — that back in day the speaker’s spooge was much, much wetter.

  54. EC

      “I used to have another

      room, a bigger broom, a wetter sponge.”

      Actually there’s an typo in BB’s rendition: In the breathtaking original, “sponge” reads “spooge.” It’s to go with the sexual symbolism of the “bigger broom” — that back in day the speaker’s spooge was much, much wetter.

  55. Justin Taylor

      Not by my grace, actually, since I’m neither an admin nor an editor here, but just for the record- this website–any website–seeks to be part of a community, and also to help build one, but we are not the same as a non-profit organization or a government service. You do not have a guaranteed right of access to our time, forums, or attention. You can’t run against us in the next election cycle. So with those terms in mind, then yes, not by my grace exclusively, but by ours. Because we make this and do this, and all you do is fling shit. And also, for the record, you are a fucking racist. Thanks for writing.

  56. Justin Taylor

      Not by my grace, actually, since I’m neither an admin nor an editor here, but just for the record- this website–any website–seeks to be part of a community, and also to help build one, but we are not the same as a non-profit organization or a government service. You do not have a guaranteed right of access to our time, forums, or attention. You can’t run against us in the next election cycle. So with those terms in mind, then yes, not by my grace exclusively, but by ours. Because we make this and do this, and all you do is fling shit. And also, for the record, you are a fucking racist. Thanks for writing.

  57. HTMLGIANT / Examining the Ruth Lilly $$$ (1) A Guest Note from Joseph Goosey

      […] response to my call for “close reads” on the Ruth Lilly fellows earlier today, Joseph Goosey sends us some examinations of the phrases used in this bit by a dude by the tag of […]

  58. Roxane

      PREACH.

  59. Roxane

      PREACH.

  60. johannes goransson

      That Roger Reeves poem is one of the best poems I’ve read from Poetry Magazine. I’m tired so that’s all I’ll say for now.

      Johannes

  61. johannes goransson

      That Roger Reeves poem is one of the best poems I’ve read from Poetry Magazine. I’m tired so that’s all I’ll say for now.

      Johannes

  62. Pete Brown

      Um, they give young poets money and that’s bad. Ok. I’ll go dust my broom.

  63. Pete Brown

      Um, they give young poets money and that’s bad. Ok. I’ll go dust my broom.

  64. Jeremy Allan Hawkins

      You guys are funny. But Malachi is a friend. And I’m not going to get into a pissing match left over from last year. I will point out, however, that it’s not a pen name.

  65. Jeremy Allan Hawkins

      You guys are funny. But Malachi is a friend. And I’m not going to get into a pissing match left over from last year. I will point out, however, that it’s not a pen name.