People, Places, & ThingsEpigrams & Other Occasional PoemsBy Dr. Matthew Allen
People, Places, & ingsPrimera edición, Lima, diciembre de 2015Diseño de cubierta: Héctor Manuel Ugarte y de La SottaDiagramación: Héctor Manuel Ugarte y de La SottaEditado por: SAXO.COM PERU S.A.Cyopublico.saxo.comCalle Juan N. Eléspuru 240, San Isidro - LimaTelf: 51 1 2219998Impreso en: Star Printing S.A.C.Jr. Emilio Althaus 406, Lince - LimaISBN: 978-8-793429-16-1 (formato e-book)Digitalizado y Distribuido por Saxo.com Perú S.A.C.www.saxo.com/esyopublico.saxo.comTelf: 51-1-221-9998Dirección: Av. 2 de Mayo 534 Of. 304, MirafloresLima-PerúHecho el Depósito Legal en la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú N°2015-17722 Impreso en Perú
People, Places, & ThingsEpigrams & Other Occasional PoemsBy Dr. Matthew Allen
In small proportions we just beauties see, And in short measures life may perfect be.—Ben Jonson,Epigrams (1616)
Table Of ContentsIntroduction To The ReaderPeopleEnigmaMapyBatman Reluctant Homage To Al CaponeTeacher,TeacherAngels To My Godson, Samuel Mrs. Nick To Lisa To Beth For Eileen Dead-Eye IndeedLover I-Hope (Not) The Reluctant Server In Memoria: W. J. BarnesConnected1317192122232425262728293031323334353637
BirdsongAre You?Angel AgainPilgrimage To Walden PondI Hold My Former WifeNeedy No MoreWhen The Smoke ClearsFor G. M. HopkinsDid Odysseus Have Days Like These?Empty NestHymn To AthenaSocratesB3—Big Bob BaconDepartmental MeetingC: / ZAK / MIXPierre Elliot TrudeauThe Last Time I Saw HerSoiledChamber MusicI Don’t GrieveFallen AngelOur EmilyEvitaMr. Dick Changing HatsCan AmericaAsh Wednesday:Meeting An Artistic FriendPlacesMine ClosingLight LearningBy Rrain To Machu PicchuAt Evita’s GraveUndersea GardensEdmonton From The AirQueen’sWatering HoleRequiem For A LandmarkNelson Is A State Of MindWhat We Left BehindThingsNemesis3839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646567686970717273747576777981
Before School Maytag Madness Sock-Eye SwimmingStyleClosure Punch Drunk Milton’s MusingsLove Unfinished Business Someone Else’s Poem Cyclic BemusementSeeing As Through A Glass,Darkly A Marvellous ConclusionInsomnia Ezra Pound In Anglo-Saxon Cherry Blossoms Love Life Fridge Magnet Death Row With A View Hitting 40 The Song Of Songs Morning Pages Ready Or Not Cargo CultMissionary’s Answer Sestet On Poetry Tai Chi Chuan Always StylishNothing Matters If At All Top Us Up PleaseThree Tired TeabagsHideouts Introductory Remarks On Sexual Politics Political Shape Poem A Check-list For Expository EssaysOne Art—Four Approaches Going Out In StyleThings To Do A Writer’s Day Should Be Other Occasional PoemsPeopleMore Angels 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118120121123125127
To MapyRebel With A Cause Flower GirlFlowers & ThugsWatt You Bastard Dear SylviaPlaces Bachelor Digs Freshmen Arrive On Campus Waking Up In Darkness I Sit In The Company Of GhostsThings An Ode To Bread PuddingThe Gentle Tide Java Jive Sea Fever Waiting For Big Brothers Room Change, First Day Of ClassesWulf To Woolf,Week By Week Stand Up Where Are Socrates’ Children Now? My Grandma’s Hands Last Words Holding On By A Thread She Flutters Goodnight Kiss A Hymn For My Lost Children For Grandee Grandma Jean A Prayer For IanAbout The Author 128129130131132133135137138139140143145146147148149150151153154156157159161162163164165166167
IntroductionWe crave eternity.Even in this day and age,young peo-ple still carve or paint their initials in public places,declaring their presence despite change and chance.An allied instinct for ceremony and permanence prompts us to write our names on the fly leaves of our favorite books.Likewise,cities and foundations engrave the names of their benefactors on bron-ze plaques—public recognition for posterity. Still,as much as we bow to posterity,we live in the pre-sent moment,and the here and now calls for stimulation—even titillation.Some timely news or a juicy bit of gossip relieves the drabness of our daily lives.We like to be asked our opinion and 13
freely give advice,solicited or not.Fumbling incompetence bemuses us,and acerbic comments provide their own perver-se pleasure.Such socialneeds and human foibles—the urge to leave our mark,to say our piece,to commemorate,and to protest the foolishness of others—are ably expressed in the epigram.Ironically,there is a long tradition behind this shortest of poems.Literally a poem written “on something,” the first epigrams were actual inscriptions:a few lines carefully carved in stone as epitaphs to the dead or commemorations of buil-dings in classical antiquity.Carving letters in marble certainly calls for great physical precision,and careful craftsmanship—the precise arrangement of lines and letters—remains one of the chief pleasures of the epigram.Besides craftsmanship,the epigrammist aims at point and memorability:concentrated content befitting a compact form.Add a dash of ribald me-lody from the Anacreon or ancient drinking song,and you have a potent cocktail of witty repartee,social commentary,and word play.From the earliest times,then,the epigram could be va-riously wise and somber or bawdy and witty,proclaiming truth and / or denouncing folly,and somewhat variable in length.In the English tradition,the epigram continues to contain indeli-ble statements but sometimes in the context of a larger argu-ment.For example,the neoclassical poet Ben Jonson writes epigrams “on something”or to someone—“On Spies,” “On the Union,” “To John Donne,” “To King James”—more as topical discussions rather than simple inscriptions,however witty or memorable his individual lines may be.14
