wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

passed away this past saturday.
when i lived in Fresno, where he resided, i had the great priviledge of having him compliment one of my poems. i can not say how important and profound that was to me.

i always thought of him as the best poet in this country. his work was not the product of the academic school of poetry and that earned him some criticism. he wrote about real people struggling to make a living. his great volume "What Work Is" is nothing short of brilliant. i hoped he'd live forever and continue writing. he won every major award a United States poet can and they were all well deserved. He taught at Cornell and UC Fresno for years.

i miss him in this world.

RS Loc: W Columbia, SC

I have never really been into poetry. I never played it down, but I have to admit it was always above my comprehension and abilities. Now you've sparked my curiosity, and I will have to check out his works. I'm glad that you got to meet him and add to the memories you'll carry with you. He is gone, but at least his work will live on . . .

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

hi, and thanks for your comments.
i've been lucky, over the years, to have him as a friend and mentor. his writing is plain, not like all the academic poets we're "blessed" with these days.
take a look at his volume "They Feed They Lion, and particularly "What Work Is", both brilliant and something you might be able to relate to as, me, a simple person.

when he was working in the steel mill in Detroit, the guys there, who would spend their lives doing that, asked him what he did in college. he said "i write poetry", and none of them laughed at me". personally, i always thought that pretty profound, especially in our class ridden society.

Shutter Bugger

Sorry to hear that WC.

This may make you feel better:


THE CAT!

THE CAT!
crept in the crypt,
CRAPT,
and CREPT out again.

author unknown.