The Poets' Church Introduction

Introduction to The Poets' Church:

I really like to talk on stage. I like to tell stories about poems and how or why they were written. I do this because when I go see someone else perform, that's what I like to hear about. I think it makes the person more human. So I thought I'd tell you some things about some of these poems, but not all of them - I just don't have that much space.

216: This is an actual event which I witnessed in Seattle.

217: This is based on another actual event I witnessed. It's just amazing all the real things which happen, there's hardly any need to make anything up.

206: Can you imagine being selected to be the first human to step on to the moon, and then having to take that step?! I just think that would be simply unbelievable - just beyond conception.

183: This one, too, was based on something I witnessed. I was driving to Eugene from Portland down I-5, and there was just this incredible sky - just like the poem describes. Unbelievable, really, I can never say all of it. I had to stop and write it down. Beautiful.

215 & 233: Both of these were written about my friend Matt Nathanson. He is an independent singer/songwriter, and he is just all over the country all the time - I'm a little jealous. Maybe some day we can tour together, and I can open for him. Anyway, we hadn't see each other for something like eight years, and 215 is an emotional response to seeing him perform and our reunion. (I know in the poem it says 12 years, but that's why I'm a poet and not a number cruncher.) 233 is about a show he did in San Francisco that I saw - standing room only (no kidding). The place was packed. I'm sure we broke the fire code on that one. If you're a fan of Matt's, I hope you'll enjoy the snippets of his lyrics I use in these two poems.

224: This poem says everything it needs to in a single breath, and I just love it - I can scarcely believe I wrote it.

96: I wrote this because I had a realization (or maybe I just read it somewhere) that even the oceans are named there are no clearly defined lines drawn on a map that differentiate one body of water from the other. I thought that was very different from how delineated and set boundaries are on land.

201: This poem is a journey on an emotional train wreck. I've performed it only a couple of times. I feel that in order to do it justice, I really just have to lose it at some point and give myself over to the madness I wrote into it. Not something I can pull off all the time.
"Shahasa" is a word some friends of mine made up; it basically means a time and/or place that words can not describe.

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©2002, by Neske.
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