Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

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lonndubh
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Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by lonndubh »

Late Fragment by Raymond Carver
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
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mat james
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by mat james »

What a winner was Ray!
(very Leonard.)

It looks like I will now be a fan of Raymond Carver. :)
He didn't live very long, but it seems he lived well.
Thanks for the lead, Lonndubh


Regards, Mat.
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
Red Poppy
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by Red Poppy »

Time to get the lead out Mat ;-)
(see above)

Great poem, great poet.
lonndubh
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by lonndubh »

Gravy
Raymond Carver

No other word will do. For that's what it was.
Gravy.
Gravy, these past ten years.
Alive, sober, working, loving, and
being loved by a good woman. Eleven years
ago he was told he had six months to live
at the rate he was going. And he was going
nowhere but down. So he changed his ways
somehow. He quit drinking! And the rest?
After that it was all gravy, every minute
of it, up to and including when he was told about,
well, some things that were breaking down and
building up inside his head. "Don't weep for me,"
he said to his friends. "I'm a lucky man.
I've had ten years longer than I or anyone
expected. Pure Gravy. And don't forget it
indy
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by indy »

"Late Fragment" and "Gravy": two of my favorite Carver poems. This summer at a used book sale I picked up Soul Barnacles: Ten More Years with Ray by Tess Gallagher. The dust jacket describes the book as "literary history and love story," and so it is. I recommed it to anyone who enjoys Carver and/or Gallagher's work.
"Walker, there is no road, only wind-trails in the sea." Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly
lonndubh
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by lonndubh »

Hi Indy
Hope you'r enjoying the forum
indy wrote:Soul Barnacles: Ten More Years with Ray by Tess Gallagher
This book sounds like a great find and a lovely read.Lucky you
Barnacle seems to be a favorite word of Tess-I heard her read in Carlow from a book called Barnacle Soup .
She was most entertaining. This book is a collection of stories from the West of Ireland told to her by Josie Gray
indy
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by indy »

Hi lonndubh,

This is what Gallagher writes on the dedication page of the book:
"That's not who we are to each other, I said, as he tried to explain who I was to him now, in terms of earlier. We were walking to the Deux Magots to meet Maya. Then the expression I was searching for came: "We're soul barnacles, " I said, and we looked at each other as we walked, and he laughed a laugh which had a little island of uh-huh in its middle.

In the high violet light of that summer eveing, it seemed I was covered with soul barnacles--anchored to the ones I loved by what we'd written and said, bound to each other, invisibly and forever."
And, yes, I am enjoying the site. Thank you for asking. :)
"Walker, there is no road, only wind-trails in the sea." Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly
lonndubh
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by lonndubh »

indy wrote:We're soul barnacle
Another name for Soul mates :?:
Or a thorn in her side :D :D
indy
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by indy »

Or a thorn in her side
indy wrote:We're soul barnacle
Another name for Soul mates :?:
Or a thorn in her side :D :D
Yeah, I bet Ray didn't say "uh-huh" but "uh-oh." ;-)
"Walker, there is no road, only wind-trails in the sea." Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly
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sceachgeal
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by sceachgeal »

What The Doctor Said is also the most incredibly moving poem. I am glad I am not a smoker.
He said it doesn't look good
he said it looks bad in fact real bad
he said I counted thirty-two of them on one lung before
I quit counting them
I said I'm glad I wouldn't want to know
about any more being there than that
he said are you a religious man do you kneel down
in forest groves and let yourself ask for help
when you come to a waterfall
mist blowing against your face and arms
do you stop and ask for understanding at those moments
I said not yet but I intend to start today
he said I'm real sorry he said
I wish I had some other kind of news to give you
I said Amen and he said something else
I didn't catch and not knowing what else to do
and not wanting him to have to repeat it
and me to have to fully digest it
I just looked at him
for a minute and he looked back it was then
I jumped up and shook hands with this man who'd just given me
something no one else on earth had ever given me
I may have even thanked him habit being so strong
when she came back she was nobody's wife . . .
lonndubh
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by lonndubh »

I love this poem sceachgeal
especially the line
I said not yet but I intend to start today
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sceachgeal
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by sceachgeal »

Yes it revolves around that line to some extent, doesn't it. Such a distillation of wisdom. I have memorised it as a party piece, as I cannot sing, but it is perhaps not the most apposite for most parties. Anyway I must follow its command now and get out to the garden again and enjoy the swallow swoop.

I have just downloaded, as a pdf, an interesting article Medical Humanism and the Poetry of Raymond Carver which I look forward to reading when I get my printer running again. If you are interested you can send me a PM.
when she came back she was nobody's wife . . .
lonndubh
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by lonndubh »

sa gairdín leis na fáinleogí
What a lovely place to be
The first day this year that I noticed the fáinleogí had returned i called a welcome to one
It flew onto the fence beside me so I could admire its lovely slender shiny body.
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mat james
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by mat james »

Hi Lonndubh! (and all)
I jumped up and shook hands with this man who'd just given me
something no one else on earth had ever given me
I wondered whether he was thanking him for line 12 (a spiritual inclination)
or for that original bit of timely news? (the death sentence).
I settled on the death sentence.

I love the dark humor of the last line.

Mat.
"Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart." San Juan de la Cruz.
Red Poppy
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Re: Raymond Carver 1938 - 1988

Post by Red Poppy »

Mat
I think the key to the
I jumped up................
lines is in the last line - which, as you say, is darkly humorous.
Habit is habitual! :D Even in the face of a death sentence.
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