Loose Leaf Notes

Floyd’s Little River is poet/artist Jack Callan’s Walden Pond, the place he travels from Norfolk to about six times a year to camp, write poetry and paint.   For the past few years Jack, who is a carpenter by trade,  had been coming to Floyd’s monthly Spoken Word night to read his poetry whenever he was in town, which is why when I saw him set-up at Art on the Parkway last weekend, he wanted to know what happened. He  had gone to the designated coffee house on the regular third Saturday to sign up to read but none of the poets were there. I explained that the six year old open-mic venue had reached a peak and then lost momentum, mainly because The Floyd Writers Circle that hosted it had gone inactive.

Not only was Jack back in Floyd for the weekend but he had recently gotten married and was with his wife,  Judith (pictured below). He also had a new book of poems, which pays tribute to Floyd’s Little River in its title and within its pages.

On the first date the river / does not kiss you / (some confusion as to who is most shy) / only ripples herself / softly beneath  her bird-chattering / and something magic, Jack wrote in the Fields of Daniel section of the book named Little River on the Milky Way.

As a Floydian, Green kayak on Little River / is soft water taken / on a ripple of good cheer … was a stanza in the book that stood out for me, as did one that reads,  Moonshine from oatmeal / was my introduction / so very smooth it / didn’t feel like breakfast.

Little River on the Milky Way also has a section titled Heart Sutras and a few poems that chronicle the flowering of Jack and Judith’s relationship … The delight of your mouth / it’s opening like a flower / so new to the light / can only match the little girl / who climbs the tree that has become my body.  

I learned a new word that Jack used to explain the poetry workshops and events he’s been involved in as the southeast regional Vice President of the Poetry Society of Virginia:  ekphrastic.  It comes from the Greek ek and phrasis, ‘out’ and ‘speak’ and means using the art of writing to comment on another art form, such as a poem about a painting or a novel about a film. Don McLean’s song Starry Night, written about Van Gogh’s painting of the same name, is an example of exphrastic poetry.

The section in Jack’s new book titled “Wings of Pablo” is another example of exphrastic poetry.  He flew to New York for a Pablo Picasso exhibit and wrote poems from the stirrings of being in a gallery filled with Picasso’s paintings. I am a cow with a face / that brings lips / to another dimension / I am so pouty in my repose / hard-pressed to explain / the eye in my hat

On another ekphrastic occasion Jack was watching a PBS documentary on women bullfighters when these words came … My mother threw me beneath the bull / to see if could escape / She had bread and salad for dinner / when I returned … and …  The bull’s horns / are like / the carpenter’s hammer / or a old guy shavin’ / in the mirror / Best of luck matador / they stab the bull / before you arrive / they cheat like liars …

Jack  writes prolifically and he paints in the same playful free style that he writes. Someday I hope to see what kind of houses he builds. – Colleen Redman

Post notes:  Jack’s art was featured at the Artists Association’s gallery in Floyd.  See HERE.   A picture of him reading from his first book of poems Knucklehead Poems at a Spoken Word night in Floyd HERE.  Both books can be ordered at knuckleheadpoet@yahoo.com