POET BEN CARTWRIGHT By Karen Mobley
artwright
“ I feel whole in my writing life when I am working a little bit , most days , on something new , and when I am reading new things , and have a chance , at least once a week , to spend some time with other writers and artists . Thankfully , I live in a wonderful city for accomplishing all of that . I have been more prolific since moving back to Spokane than I have been in the five or six years prior . It ’ s tempting to wax poetic and claim this is because of the river and the landscape , but the skeptic in me knows it ’ s because of the people .”
Sound is important in Ben ’ s work . When asked about engaging with other ’ s writing , he said , “ I ’ ve acquired a taste for listening to recorded poems . In Kansas , I started up an archive of poetry recordings called the Kansas Blotter , and some of my recordings of poets like Kenneth Irby , Lyn Hejinian , and Rachel Blau DuPlessis are now in the PennSound archive that Al Filreis maintains . While editing those sound files , I learned to appreciate the way recorded poems allow you to stop and pause — to really consider them — maybe only listening to one poem at a time , or a few lines . I love this . I enjoy the social experience of attending readings , but it can be difficult to absorb everything , hearing an hour ’ s worth of poems in a row . Recorded poems allow you to hear the voice of the poet , and you can enjoy the poems in small increments .
I ’ m very grateful for all of the people donating their time and energy to record poets reading their work . PennSound , Ubu- Web , the Poetry Foundation podcasts — all of the big , free archives are incredibly valuable . Locally , we have our own resources for listening to recorded poetry , for example , Zan Agzigian ’ s wonderful Soundspace Music Share program on KPBX , and the Spokane Open Poetry Program hosted by Stephen Pitters on KYRS .
Winner of the Powder Horn Prize
AFTER OUR DEPARTURE
The cruel and the fallow ( kudzu , ivy , milo ) follow summer-made angles up a barn ’ s red planks .
A roofless silo hides a sapling , until everyone living has given up .
The maple forks and bristles at the silo ’ s lip , cups hands in waiting for an accident of rain .
March | April 2017 37