Simon Schuchat: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Baltimore Sun

 

there’s a passage in Mencken’s diaries—

now, I think Mencken’s a great writer—

so don’t take this wrong—

anyway, he describes a

somewhat large

immigrant Jewish family

down the street

and how they inspire

in him

powerful feelings of disgust

 

and the thing is

my great-grandfather lived on that street

in Baltimore

with all his sons and some of their wives

we have the census records

we know how many were employed,

and I know from my uncle

how proud they were

to have Mencken as a neighbor

 

but I guess

since he called his essays

Prejudices

there’s no call to be surprised

and anyway there could have been other Jews on the street

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Simon Schuchat has lived in Chicago, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing, and Moscow, to name a few.  His translations of Chinese and Russian prose and poetry have appeared in various anthologies and magazines, as has his own poetry, which has also been published in four collections. According to Kathy Acker, “his poetry doesn’t tell you stuff: it is consciousness.” Ted Berrigan said he was “the opposite of petty, which is grand.”  Soviet Texts, his translations of Moscow conceptualist poet Dmitri Prigov, came out in 2020 from Ugly Duckling Presse. The Centos of Simon Schuchat is due out from Edge Books in fall 2023.  [Baltimore Sun” originally appeared in the Beltway Poetry Quarterly; author photo by Christine Chen.]

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                A tailor shop on Lloyd Street, c. 1908. Gift of Caroline H. Bernstein and Helen K. Silverberg, Jewish Museum of Maryland

Comments

[Jody Payne]

Does the sunflower shun the bluebell?

[Greg F Masters]

I love this poem. Horrifying revelation almost neutralized by sober telling. Irony, indeed.

[Stacey]

Fantastic. Thank you for introducing us to this poet.

[Bernard Welt]

Simon: great poem. I love the place of digression and of irony.
(I’ve been at this James Schuyler celebration and it was all about the genius of digression.)
XO

[Barbara Henning]

Thanks Simon. The genius of digression. I like that way of describing it.

[Irene Solet]

This is amazing, Simon. Particularly striking to me as my father was born in Baltimore on such a street in such a family in 1905.

[Andrei Codrescu]

Mencken was a rabid antisemite, not just a pedestrian jew denigrator. His sympathies were with the nazis in WW2, he didn't want America to enter the war, and like many German Americans he shilled for the Bund. His diaries were not published until long after his death because there was nothing cute about his rhetoric

[ron parver]

I had read in the past that Mencken was an antisemite. The poem is a little gem of personal life history relating to todays rampant antisemitism. I especially liked the the ironic ending. Ron

[Indran Amirthanayagam]

OMG! Slam dunk, Simon!

[Clarinda Harriss]

Henry Mencken introduced my parents to each other. He was my common law godfather. I was appalled when I find ou about his antisemitism. But as my mother once told me, after a conversation with Henry Mencken you felt as if YoU were the most brilliant person ever. I spent some time at his house just before he died. I left his home feeling as if I was the most brilliant teenager ever.

[Grace Cavalieri]

Mencken also called Baltimore "that great Medieval city now in ruins."

But a terrific poem was inspired by Schuchat.

[David S Herz]

Simon, I wager Mencken was often beset with powerful feelings of disgust, for humanity in general, but being a man of his times, a sad example in any case, he had to choose "The Jews" to express his bile. A touching poem, you never know whom you like, but you do know what you like of the person you may not like everything about.

[lally]

I discovered what a great poet Simon was when he was still a teenager and published his teenage poems profound beyond his years...happy to see he has remained a great poet (and I love the shirt

[Terence Winch]

Indran:  you published it first.

[Eileen]

Great poem.

[Beth Joselow]

Well done, Simon. My mother was raised on such a street in Baltimore. Excellent selection for these days, Terence. Recommend the short book Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel.

[Bill Nevins]

Simon, a powerful poem. Fiercely ironic and effective without being shrill. I recall how in grad school I took on the assignment of researching and reporting to the class on Mencken--I was thrilled by his style and appalled by his bigotry. Same for when we studied Ezra Pound. Bravo!

[Terence Winch]

Thanks, Beth.

[Don Berger]

I admire the source and intent of this poem,--for me,it's a new way to write, direct, crystal clear but complex in its attitude toward Mencken's words. I'm inspired by Simon's creation of a personal poem that's completely social, that looks out at how other people are thinking and acting while it still involves the poet's own situation in the world he's describing. A very good choice TW, fresh interesting poem Simon.

[David Reckford]

Thank you for the poem, Simon. I've just added it to my selection for my poetry writing workshop students along with David Herz's "Non Poetic Memories of the East Village" (did he send you that one? The students like it quite a bit) I'm writing about Eliot and Pound at the moment, which is never completely comfortable. David

[Dr. Earle Hitchner]

“Baltimore Sun” by Simon Schuchat is a sobering tour de force. Bravo, Simon, for writing it and bravo, Terence, for bringing it to our attention. It sparked my following comment:

Writing for THE BALTIMORE SUN, H. L. Mencken covered the infamous Scopes “Monkey Trial” conducted in Dayton, Tennessee, in 2025. The trial was over teaching “evil-ution” in a public high school. Whatever Mencken’s dismaying faults and proclivities were, he distinguished himself as a journalist chronicling that trial. I remember reading SIX DAYS OR FOREVER: TENNESSEE VS. JOHN THOMAS SCOPES by Ray Ginger in the Reading (Pa.) Public Library not long after watching the 1960 movie INHERIT THE WIND, whose co-stars included Gene Kelly playing E. K. Hornbeck, a character based on H. L. Mencken. That 1960 movie and 1958 book still stick with me. Together they made me read more about Mencken, flaws and all. Like it or not, the Fourth Estate is our last bulwark against tyranny.

[Casey]

Simon: Thanks for this powerful and memorable poem. Terence: Thanks for featuring it.
--- Casey

[Terence Winch]

Earle:  Thanks, as always, for your informative comment.

[Terence Winch]

Thanks for the comment, Casey.

[Dr. Earle Hitchner]

The infamous Scopes “Monkey Trial” was conducted in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925, not (obviously) in 2025. Mea culpa.