A Visit To Civilization, by Sandra McPherson

"Poetry is to prose as walking is to dancing."~John Wain

"When in public poetry should take off its clothes and wave to the nearest person in sight; it should be seen in the company of thieves and lovers rather than that of journalists and publishers."~Brian Patten

"Poetry cannot afford to lose its fundamentally self-delighting inventiveness, its joy in being a process of language as well as a representation of things in the world."~Seamus Heaney

As we do every year at this time, we join the rest of the nation in celebrating the world of poetry. I chose the beautiful, yet challenging poetry of Sandra McPherson as an opportunity to stretch ourselves into areas of modern poetry that we may not have explored.

To that end, we have before us an American poet at the top of her form, utilizing all of the devices, diction, symbol, lyricism and imagery at her disposal.

I would like us to just explore McPherson's work in a relaxed and informal way, so I am forgoing formal discussion questions for the evening. The emphasis, as I see it should rest on reading the poems and allowing sound, cadence, and music inform the reading as much as the actual meaning of the words. I do hope that the brief critical profile of McPherson and her work shed enough light to aid in everyone's ability to understand and enjoy this poet.