“Fire” [by Mark Strand]

Sometimes there would be a fire and I would walk into it

and come out unharmed and continue on my way,

and for me it was just another thing to have done.

As for putting out the fire, I left that to others

who would rush into the billowing smoke with brooms

and blankets to smother the flames.  When they were through

they would huddle together to talk of what they had seen --

how lucky they were to have witnessed the lusters of heat,

the hushing effect of ashes, but even more to have known the fragrance

of burning paper, the sound of words breathing their last.

from Man and Camel (2006). 

Ed. note: Mark Strand was the guest editor of The Best American Poetry 1991 -- which meant that we worked on the book, trading poems and recommendations, all through 1990; sometimes in person, often on the phone. It was a great experience working with Mark and finding out, when we got together, that we liked many of the same things: art galleries and bookstores, the wine and spirits shop on Astor Place, Paul Stuart and other clothing emporia, parties and celebrations. Our first meeting was at the Union Square Cafe, where the owner Danny Meyer came over and greeted Mark by name. Mark was a pure aesthete, by which I mean that he saw things in an artistic light, as if life, his life, were a "continuous" poem, to use the adjective in the title of one his best collections, The Continuous Life (1990). If you read "Fire" identifying "I" as "the Poet," we see him continuing on his way after enduring a blaze, a recurrent event that leaves him unharmed and leaves others with the task of extinguishing the fire and reaping the ironic reward, the fragrance of burning paper. The poet has done his part by walking into and out of the flames --- and reporting on what ensued in his absence.

For Strand's prose poem "The Minister of Culture" and his thoughts on the prose poem, click here.

-- DL

Comments

[Maria Leng]

Mark Strand is my all-time favourite poet.

[Faith Lieberman]

Breath-taking in every way.

[Terence Winch]

Wonderful poem, as was so much of his work. I read "Eating Poetry" in the late '70s (I think)and was thereafter a fan of his writing. I envy your getting to know him.