"Appeal to the Grammarians" [by Paul Violi]

Paul Violi (1944 -2011) would have been 78 today. So let's read one of Paul's poems.

Appeal to the Grammarians

We, the naturally hopeful,
Need a simple sign
For the myriad ways we're capsized.
We who love precise language
Need a finer way to convey
Disappointment and perplexity.
For speechlessness and all its inflections,
For up-ended expectations,
For every time we're ambushed
By trivial or stupefying irony,
For pure incredulity, we need
The inverted exclamation point.
For the dropped smile, the limp handshake,
For whoever has just unwrapped a dumb gift
Or taken the first sip of a flat beer,
Or felt love or pond ice
Give way underfoot, we deserve it.
We need it for the air pocket, the scratch shot,
The child whose ball doesn't bounce back,
The flat tire at journey's outset,
The odyssey that ends up in Weehawken.
But mainly because I need it—here and now
As I sit outside the Caffe Reggio
Staring at my espresso and cannoli
After this middle-aged couple
Came strolling by and he suddenly
Veered and sneezed all over my table
And she said to him, "See, that's why
I don't like to eat outside."

Paul Violi is pictured here with David Shapiro and George Green at the "Best American Poetry 2009" launch celebration in September 2009.

Comments

[Lisa Gonzales]

Beautiful poem, I just can't find the whole collection of poems, but when I got a job at https://us.essayassistant.net/, I immediately got access to all of Paul Viola's poems.

[Dr. Earle Hitchner]

Voilà, Violi! This is a poem of endless appeal not only to grammarians but also to anyone who has an appreciation for what old-school English teachers used to describe as "the right word in the right place." Poets especially understand the importance of that phrase. Of course, in the hands and head of a master writer, syntax and other grammatical rules can still be altered or "played with" in the singular pursuit of invention that deepens meaning. For any serious poet, the final question remains the same: Does it work? That's why we have wastebaskets and "delete" keys. Again, what a treat from the well-versed Violi, who is deeply missed.

[MARK PAWLAK]

Paul’s poems never get stale. Just today as I placed my Starbucks coffee order the barrister replie, “you got it.” Immediately Paul's "Counterman" prose poem flashed in my mind. One of the most drop-dead-pan funniest poems ever. I vividly renumber Paul delivering it at a poetry reading straightfaced but try as he might by the end he cracked up.

[Terence Winch]

Paul was so brilliant & funny.

[Phyllis Rosenzweig]

A sad, great loss.

[Greg Masters]

Ditto what Terrence said, brilliant and funny.