Michael Cartright
Lives in the Ozark Highlands of Southwest Missouri. He has devoted forty years to the study of poetry and music. He once described his poems as frames of film, momentary photographs. The odd rhythms and beats in the poems are driven by his interest in jazz music. American language, as it is spoken by the natives, is a feature of his poems with a focus on the accuracy of the frames clicking by.
I have had the pleasure of observing Michael’s work as a poet for 30 years. On our second date, he brought an old beat up doctor’s bag full of his journals and typed poems. He handed me the bag and said, “This is me, I hope you like it.” It took me three days, but I read every word. I didn’t just like it, I loved it.
Michael never does anything halfway, if he loves something he will exhaustively research it and become a foremost authority on the subject. If you don’t believe me just ask him any question about Lew Welch or Robert Pollard, he is an encyclopedia on the subjects he loves. He believes that poetry is a special art form because it is a totally different experience to read a poem and to hear a poem performed by the author. That is why it was so important to him for us to put this reading together. He wants the audience to experience poetry in both forms. He is an amazing performer with a beautiful voice and I know you are going to love his reading style.
RECORDED CONVERSATION AT A PARTY (NOT MINE)
or
LIFE CYCLE NOTES
necktie
barbed wire
a taller hat
anything
to norm the strange
we reside
in another dimension
you can see it
driving over flat land
that humming distance
or the moment after
rock splits pond water
we walk into it
disappear
only to reappear
on paper / in books
DON'T UNTO OTHERS
always doing for others
with conditions
how many points
was anyone looking
at my offering
actually
a transaction
traveling through life
convinced the cash-in
will contain a key
promised
that was never
promised
yes
it takes
special glasses
to see that
