Dan Gutstein: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Fox Who Loves Me + Other Developments in the Faunal and Floral Kingdoms

 

1. Deep, deep in the shrubberies: behold the beaver. Being human and smart-alecky, one ponders the paddle. We’re told that the paddle is for dam building, but that can’t be all. The beaver, for example, knows love. What doeth the paddle during the love-making of the beaver? People paddle each other, although the paddle is not—organically—attached to them. You might think “furry, cute little critter” but I think not. I see a varmint that can chew through a tree. Knowing not what might aggravate the beaver, I keep moving along.

2. This massive heron floats down to earth. It is equal parts dinosaur, goose, and 747. A comedian. Slender and plump. Where are the myths about this fine specimen? How come no Leda and the Great Blue? It is a stoic. Perhaps it thinks me a stoic, as well. The two of us, trudging along in the miserable murk that defines our lives. Me ‘n’ the heron, we complaineth not.

3. Thank you for inquiring about the Early Girl tomato plant. Given the absence of bees on the balcony, Dear Reader, I hand-pollinated every single flower. Lo, the plant begat many dozen tomatoes! We had a terrific affair. As for the fruits themselves, well, they were quite tasty, as it works out. This bit of gardening provided me with an essential activity as my skeleton reeled from an injury.

4. During my convalescence from said injury (which continues at present) I watched some reruns of Law & Order. I would like to say that Claire Kincaid, played by Jill Hennessey, is my favorite character. Dunno how the show continued on without her.

5. I got bitten! Not only that, but the venom (of whatever bit me) tried to slay me. But I endured.

6. Given the seriousness of the injury, I hadn’t seen my BFF from the faunal kingdom in several months. But one day, as part of my rehabilitation walk, I thought I saw the little ears sticking up, out of the sand trap. So I says, “Hey mate,” in my silly Australian accent. “Hey mate, you’re a good-looking fox.” This is how all the animals in my orbit know it’s me. The silly accent. She sits bolt upright, curling the big brush of the tail behind her. I think she even whined a little bit. That really broke me up!

7. The fox, stirring.

8. The fox, running. She looks hale and hearty. She’s a good-looking fox, mate.

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   Dan Gutstein’s most recent collection of writing is Metacarpalism (poetry, Unsolicited Press, 2022). His poems and stories have appeared in more than a hundred journals and anthologies, including Ploughshares, American Scholar, The Iowa Review, Best American Poetry, and The Penguin Book of the Sonnet. He is also co-director of documentary project Li’l Liza Jane: The Story of America Through the History of a Song and vocalist for NPR-featured punk band Joy on Fire

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                                                    Winslow Homer, The Fox Hunt.

Comments

[gracecavalieri]

This is a perfect example of a poem that takes the form it needs to be ... to be the most it can be... (in this case)
A lot of originality - and love for all species.

[Bill Nevins]

My GAWD, MATE! Dan, your unimaginably convoluted and beautiful ramble poem here has triggered in me a flash back to the day in 1969 when me and my Iona college senior-undergrad mates dropped LSD after climbing over the fence into the Hudson Valley Rockefeller Estate (we were doing socio-geographical-psychedelic research inspired by a devolving Roman Catholic theological education, repressed sex drives, proletarian rage, Owsley, and a then- recent chance encounter with Tim Leary in a Lower East Side tavern) and spent the night straight through to dawn. As dawn broke, a wee red fox appeared and hopped about in the tall grass where I was blithely wandering. And she spoke to me! Kindly!

Thanks, mate, (and thanks Terence), for the memories, yours and mine. Hope you're healing a bit, as am I.
Bill

[Chris Mason]

Great poem to brighten the miserable murk!

[Terence Winch]

Thanks, Bill. You need to work that comment into a poem.

[Denise Duhamel]

Wowee! Mystical and hilarious and poignant.

[Don Berger]

We're introduced to a new form here, one that invites us to try it ourselves, and who can or couldn't like how the poem works as a series of doors that open into new rooms that treat us to even richer parts of life that we didn't know existed. Glad that Terence has shown us this poem, and glad that Dan Gutstein made it!

[Terence Winch]

Don---thanks for the comment.

[David Lehman]

I like what you do with the prose poem as a form, Dan. And like you I have a crush on Miss Kincaid (Jill Hennessy), my second favorite Law and Order regular after Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Ohrbach), who by the way was an exceptional song-and-dance man.

[Phyllis Rosenzweig]

Love this, and love the comments. Congratulations, Dan,

[lally]

loverly poem, witty and surprisingly poignant

[dan gutstein]

Thanks, Grace! I'm just grateful that these other species tolerate me. Very nervous of course around that rascally beaver!

Thanks for the prose poem reply, Bill. I agree with Mr. Winch that it ought to be its own piecee!

Chris -- many thanks. See you soon I hope!

Hi Denise: my first "Wowee" and I am much obliged. Cheers.

Hi again David -- I really appreciate your comment. Briscoe is of course the emotional center of the show and I did happen to know about his Broadway career. Still, I am partial to Claire.

Thanks, Phyllis -- you and I have some foxie scheming in the works! Much obliged for the comment.

[Clarinda]

I love foxes and this poem! Yi yi yi yi. That’s a fox cry, not a rebel yell

[Ted Zook]

You knocked it out of the park yet again, my friend!

[dan gutstein]

mr. lally -- thank you for the kind words, good sir.

Clarinda: I appreciate your generous words & channelings of fox language. From what I can tell, the foxes seem to understand boy Yi yi yi yi and "You're a good looking fox, mate."

Hi Ted -- thanks for taking a look and for your kind words, sir.

[Sophia Stone]

Jeez, Dan, that’s quite a scar! I love the animals—and the vegetable-in your poem. As someone else said, it’s a great ramble. I am very glad to know your writing continues on—and to so much acclaim! I loved the ones we got to publish in the old days. All the best from Sophia Stone.

[dan gutstein]

Hi Sophia, NOR continues to be one of my biggest supporters of all time, and I'm always grateful for the interest you took in my writing! Great to hear from you and thanks for your kind words.

[Sophia Stone]

You’re very welcome, Dan!

[Ruth Gutstein]

The fox excites much interest in the community. The tomato plant survives, and we wonder what it will produce this year in response to Dan's careful attentions.

[Susan Francis Campbell]

Great stuff—nice visuals!

[dan gutstein]

Hi Mom -- thanks.

Hi Susan -- thanks for the kind word!

[dan gutstein]

Ah, another typo. Sorry. "Words" plural.

[Eileen]

Amazing wonderful poem. Love it.

[Suzie Offit]

Hello Dan - I know your friends - the fox and the heron - but I couldn't describe them as joyfully as you. Really enjoyed your prose/poetry. So unaffected and "reader friendly." Enjoyed the accompanying photos as well.

[dan gutstein]

Thank you Eileen and Suzie for your kind words!

[Lorraine]

Modern man in communion with what's left of the natural world. You always delight!