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***This is the #117 in a never-ending series called BACKSTORY
OF THE POEM where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC) focuses on one
specific poem and how the poet wrote that specific poem. All BACKSTORY
OF THE POEM links are at the end of this piece.
#117 Backstory of the
Poem
“New Year’s Eve 2016”
By Michael Meyerhofer
Can you go through the
step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first
conceived in your brain until final form? I remember feeling a sense of hopelessness toward
the end of 2016—not just for political reasons, but also because of all the
deaths that had been in the news throughout the year (Elie Wiesel, Muhammad
Ali, Harper Lee, C.D. Wright, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Pat Conroy, Jim Harrison, etc).
I started imagining an alternate reality
in which everything had gone differently. I came up with the title of the poem
first, then the opening line (That was the year nobody died) followed almost
immediately. From there, the rest of the poem fell into place pretty quickly, I
think because it was something I’d already been thinking about for months. I
tinkered and polished a bit, but honestly, this was one of the “easiest” poems
I’ve ever written, and it ended up being the opening poem in my forthcoming
book, Ragged Eden.
Where were you when you
started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great
detail. If memory serves, I was taking a scalding-hot bath when the idea for the
poem came to me. I got out, grabbed my phone, and started typing it on the
notepad. Once I had the rough draft done, I finished getting dressed, actually
went to my computer, and revised it a bit.
What month and year did
you start writing this poem? December, 2016. I don’t recall the exact date but I
think I wrote it just a few days before New Year’s Eve.
How many drafts of this
poem did you write before going to the final? (And can you share a photograph
of your rough drafts with pen markings on it?) I usually put my poems
through quite a punishment, which includes not just changing the language but
altering the form (tercets, couplets, a single long stanza, etc), not to
mention playing with line breaks. In the case of this poem, though, I knew
right away that it needed to be in couplets. I don’t actually have my old
drafts of this one. I usually save those, but in this particular case, I think
the poem came out “right” pretty quickly, so the editing afterwards was just
tinkering with phrasing.
Were
there any lines in any of your rough drafts of this poem that were not in the
final version? And can you share them with us? I had a little trouble
with that last couplet. Originally, I had “of
lawns into canvases on which / trees scrawled their warnings in shadow,” which seemed a bit
clunky to me. No one else seemed to mind (the journal, FRiGG, (http://friggmagazine.com/) was even kind enough to publish it), but maybe a couple years after I
wrote it, I had the idea to edit it down to “of lawns into canvases for trees / to
scrawl their warnings in shadow.” It’s a minor change
overall, and one many people might not even notice, but I like it better… and,
of course, feel embarrassed for not writing it that way the first
time.
What do you want readers
of this poem to take from this poem? I think one lesson of poetry is that no matter how
sad or sardonic a piece of writing might be, there’s an undercurrent of
survival and redemption inherent in the simple act of expression. I think it’s
also helpful from time to time to imagine something as its opposite and compare
the differences, maybe to help us develop a deeper sense of appreciation for
what we have. (Right: Michael with his mentor Allison Joseph)
Which
part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? Even though it was
just a simple line without much detail, the reference to the Holocaust survivor
and the boxer was pretty tough for me because Elie Wiesel (http://eliewieselfoundation.org/) and Muhammad Ali (http://www.theslot.com/ali/) were two of my
heroes. The more I think about it, the feeling of loss prompted by their deaths
was probably the seed that planted the idea for the poem in the first place.
Has
this poem been published before? And if so where? The fine folks at FRiGG were kind enough to publish it. Also,
as I said, it’ll be the opening poem in my next book, forthcoming from Glass
Lyre Press (http://www.glasslyrepress.com/).
Anything you would like
to add? Just that I appreciate you doing this!
NEW YEAR’S EVE, 2016
That was
the year nobody died:
all the
musicians and actors,
the boxer,
the poets, the Holocaust survivor,
an uncle
in a star-spangled top hat,
their
illnesses mere rumor
or at
worst a reminder of something,
like a
shawl thrown past the full moon.
And when,
midway through winter,
the time
came for reminiscence
and countdowns
and champagne,
hardly
anyone could think
of a
single thing that had gone wrong,
which was
itself quite unsettling.
So after a
while, we gave up
trying to
be sad and simply kissed
as the
snows fell, transforming a nation
of lawns
into canvases for trees
to scrawl
their warnings in shadow
Michael Meyerhofer’s fifth book of poems, Ragged
Eden, is forthcoming from Glass Lyre Press. The recipient of fourteen
national poetry awards, he’s also the author of a fantasy series and serves as
the Poetry Editor of Atticus Review (https://atticusreview.org/). For more information and an
embarrassing childhood photo, please visit
Twitter: mrmeyerhofer
BACKSTORY OF THE POEM
LINKS
001 December 29, 2017
Margo
Berdeshevksy’s “12-24”
002 January 08, 2018
Alexis
Rhone Fancher’s “82 Miles From the Beach, We Order The Lobster At Clear Lake
Café”
003 January 12, 2018
Barbara
Crooker’s “Orange”
004 January 22, 2018
Sonia
Saikaley’s “Modern Matsushima”
005 January 29, 2018
Ellen
Foos’s “Side Yard”
006 February 03, 2018
Susan
Sundwall’s “The Ringmaster”
007 February 09, 2018
Leslea
Newman’s “That Night”
008 February 17, 2018
Alexis
Rhone Fancher “June Fairchild Isn’t Dead”
009 February 24, 2018
Charles
Clifford Brooks III “The Gift of the Year With Granny”
010 March 03, 2018
Scott
Thomas Outlar’s “The Natural Reflection of Your Palms”
011 March 10, 2018
Anya
Francesca Jenkins’s “After Diane Beatty’s Photograph “History Abandoned”
012 March 17, 2018
Angela
Narciso Torres’s “What I Learned This Week”
013 March 24, 2018
Jan
Steckel’s “Holiday On ICE”
014 March 31, 2018
Ibrahim
Honjo’s “Colors”
015 April 14, 2018
Marilyn
Kallett’s “Ode to Disappointment”
016 April 27, 2018
Beth
Copeland’s “Reliquary”
017 May 12, 2018
Marlon
L Fick’s “The Swallows of Barcelona”
018 May 25, 2018
Juliet
Cook’s “ARTERIAL DISCOMBOBULATION”
019 June 09, 2018
Alexis
Rhone Fancher’s “Stiletto Killer. . . A Surmise”
020 June 16, 2018
Charles
Rammelkamp’s “At Last I Can Start Suffering”
021 July 05, 2018
Marla
Shaw O’Neill’s “Wind Chimes”
022 July 13, 2018
Julia Gordon-Bramer’s
“Studying Ariel”
023 July 20, 2018
Bill Yarrow’s “Jesus
Zombie”
024 July 27, 2018
Telaina Eriksen’s “Brag
2016”
025 August 01, 2018
Seth Berg’s “It is only
Yourself that Bends – so Wake up!”
026 August 07, 2018
David Herrle’s “Devil In
the Details”
027 August 13, 2018
Gloria Mindock’s “Carmen
Polo, Lady Necklaces, 2017”
028 August 21, 2018
Connie Post’s “Two
Deaths”
029 August 30, 2018
Mary Harwell Sayler’s
“Faces in a Crowd”
030 September 16, 2018
Larry Jaffe’s “The
Risking Point”
031 September 24,
2018
Mark Lee Webb’s “After
We Drove”
032 October 04, 2018
Melissa Studdard’s
“Astral”
033 October 13, 2018
Robert Craven’s “I Have
A Bass Guitar Called Vanessa”
034 October 17, 2018
David Sullivan’s “Paper Mache
Peaches of Heaven”
035 October 23, 2018
Timothy Gager’s
“Sobriety”
036 October 30, 2018
Gary Glauber’s “The
Second Breakfast”
037 November 04, 2018
Heather Forbes-McKeon’s
“Melania’s Deaf Tone Jacket”
038 November 11, 2018
Andrena Zawinski’s
“Women of the Fields”
039 November 00, 2018
Gordon Hilger’s “Poe”
040 November 16, 2018
Rita Quillen’s “My
Children Question Me About Poetry” and “Deathbed Dreams”
041 November 20, 2018
Jonathan Kevin Rice’s
“Dog Sitting”
042 November 22, 2018
Haroldo Barbosa Filho’s
“Mountain”
043 November 27, 2018
Megan Merchant’s “Grief Flowers”
044 November 30, 2018
Jonathan P Taylor’s
“This poem is too neat”
045 December 03, 2018
Ian Haight’s “Sungmyo
for our Dead Father-in-Law”
046 December 06, 2018
Nancy Dafoe’s “Poem in
the Throat”
047 December 11, 2018
Jeffrey Pearson’s “Memorial
Day”
048 December 14, 2018
Frank Paino’s “Laika”
049 December 15, 2018
Jennifer Martelli’s
“Anniversary”
O50 December 19, 2018
Joseph Ross’s “For Gilberto Ramos, 15, Who Died in
the Texas Desert, June 2014”
051 December 23, 2018
“The Persistence of
Music”
by Anatoly Molotkov
052 December 27, 2018
“Under Surveillance”
by Michael Farry
053 December 28, 2018
“Grand Finale”
by Renuka Raghavan
054 December 29, 2018
“Aftermath”
by Gene Barry
055 January 2, 2019
“&”
by Larissa Shmailo
056 January 7, 2019
“The Seamstress:
by Len Kuntz
057 January 10, 2019
"Natural History"
by Camille T Dungy
058 January 11, 2019
“BLOCKADE”
by Brian Burmeister
059 January 12, 2019
“Lost”
by Clint Margrave
060 January 14, 2019
“Menopause”
by Pat Durmon
061 January 19, 2019
“Neptune’s Choir”
by Linda Imbler
062 January 22, 2019
“Views From the
Driveway”
by Amy Barone
063 January 25, 2019
“The heron leaves her
haunts in the marsh”
by Gail Wronsky
064 January 30, 2019
“Shiprock”
by Terry Lucas
065 February 02, 2019
“Summer 1970, The
University of Virginia Opens to Women in the Fall”
by Alarie Tennille
066 February 05, 2019
“At School They Learn
Nouns”
by Patrick Bizzaro
067 February 06, 2019
“I Must Not Breathe”
by Angela Jackson-Brown
068 February 11, 2019
“Lunch on City Island,
Early June”
by Christine Potter
069 February 12, 2019
“Singing”
by Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum
070 February 14, 2019
“Daily Commute”
by Christopher P. Locke
071 February 18, 2019
“How Silent The Trees”
by Wyn Cooper
072 February 20, 2019
“A New Psalm
of Montreal”
by Sheenagh Pugh
073 February 23, 2019
“Make Me A
Butterfly”
by Amy Barbera
074 February 26, 2019
“Anthem”
by Sandy Coomer
075 March 4, 2019
“Shape of a Violin”
by Kelly Powell
076 March 5, 2019
“Inward Oracle”
by J.P. Dancing Bear
077 March 7, 2019
“I Broke
My Bust Of Jesus”
by Susan Sundwall
078 March 9, 2019
“My Mother
at 19”
by John Guzlowski
079 March 10, 2019
“Paddling”
by Chera Hammons Miller
080 March 12, 2019
“Of Water
and Echo”
by Gillian Cummings
081 082
083 March 14, 2019
“Little
Political Sense” “Crossing Kansas with
Jim
Morrison” “The Land of Sky and Blue Waters”
by Dr. Lindsey
Martin-Bowen
084 March 15, 2019
“A Tune To
Remember”
by Anna Evans
085 March 19, 2019
“At the
End of Time (Wish You Were Here)
by Jeannine Hall Gailey
086 March 20, 2019
“Garden of
Gethsemane”
by Marletta Hemphill
087 March 21, 2019
“Letters
From a War”
by Chelsea Dingman
088 March 26, 2019
“HAT”
by Bob Heman
089 March 27, 2019
“Clay for
the Potter”
by Belinda Bourgeois
#090 March 30, 2019
“The Pose”
by John Hicks
#091 April 2, 2019
“Last
Night at the Wursthaus”
by Doug Holder
#092 April 4, 2019
“Original
Sin”
by Diane Lockward
#093 April 5, 2019
“A Father
Calls to his child on liveleak”
by Stephen Byrne
#094 April 8, 2019
“XX”
by Marc Zegans
#095 April 12, 2019
“Landscape
and Still Life”
by Marjorie Maddox
#096 April 16, 2019
“Strawberries
Have Been Growing Here for Hundreds of
Years”
by Mary Ellen Lough
#097 April 17, 2019
“The New
Science of Slippery Surfaces”
by Donna Spruijt-Metz
#098 April 19, 2019
“Tennessee
Epithalamium”
by Alyse Knorr
#099 April 20, 2019
“Mermaid,
1969”
by Tameca L. Coleman
#100 April 21, 2019
“How Do
You Know?”
by Stephanie
#101 April 23, 2019
“Rare Book
and Reader”
by Ned Balbo
#102 April 26, 2019
“THUNDER”
by Jefferson Carter
#103 May 01, 2019
“The sight
of a million angels”
by Jenneth Graser
#104 May 09, 2019
“How to
tell my dog I’m dying”
by Richard Fox
#105 May 17, 2019
“Promises
Had Been Made”
by Sarah Sarai
#106 June 01, 2019
“i sold
your car today”
by Pamela Twining
#107 June 02, 2019
“Abandoned
Stable”
by Nancy Susanna Breen
#108 June 05, 2019
“Cupcake”
by Julene Tripp Weaver
#109 June 6, 2019
“Bobby’s
Story”
by Jimmy Pappas
#110 June 10, 2019
“When You
Ask Me to Tell You About My Father”
by Pauletta Hansel
#111 Backstory of the
Poem’s
“Cemetery
Mailbox”
by Jennifer Horne
#112 Backstory of the Poem’s
“Relics”
by Kate Peper
#113 Backstory of the
Poem’s
“Q”
by Jennifer Johnson
#114 Backstory of the
Poem’s
“Brushing My Hair”
by Tammika Dorsey Jones
#115 Backstory of the
Poem
“Because the Birds Will
Survive, Too”
by Katherine Riegel
#116 Backstory of the Poem
“DIVORCE”
“DIVORCE”
by Joan Barasovska
#117 Backstory of the
Poem
“NEW YEAR”S
EVE 2016”
by Michael Meyerhofer
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/07/117-backstory-of-poem-new-years-eve.html
https://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2019/07/117-backstory-of-poem-new-years-eve.html
