Thank you. I do like the picture you posted to accompany the poem. Brings back memories of my cousins' house on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin.
Mr. Alexie: I hope you see this. I have written a play adaptation of your short story "What I Pawn You Will Redeem" and I was wondering if you could take a look at it. My e-mail is: dblock001@gmail.com I was hoping you could e-mail me and I can attach a copy to you. Thanks.
Reminds me of my middle schools years when I would get $1 for school lunch each day. Instead of spending it on the awful school lunch (slop being passed off as chicken chow mien or "pizza") I would buy two doughnuts from the yearbook fundraiser table as soon I got to school and eat them right away. They tasted sooo good, but then I would deal with the intermittent bellyache and hunger pains all day. I learned nothing from that routine. Mine was a different kind of poverty than yours, Sherman, a poverty of common sense.
Yeah, I made those poor food choices, as well. And, sometimes, even when we had enough food in the kitchen, there were slim pickings because the reservation was a food desert.
I really like the placement of "quell" and "hell" because they emphasize the resourcefulness of the children. The sugar may be empty calories, but quelling hell with togetherness and a little sweetness is an important life lesson--quite useful for later.
I loved hearing about your construction. The fragment that created the poem reminds me of other amazing lines you have written, such as "Everything looks like a noose if you stare at it long enough."
Hearing you discuss the creation of your poem is such an amazing opportunity. I had always hoped to attend one of your readings before COVID, but I was unable to do that, so I am very grateful to hear you read your own work and speak about its construction.
Thanks for the window into your work and creative process.
I love the music and I actually saw Smoke Signals. I haven’t thought of sugar cubes for ages. They were my favorite food as a child. You also have a comma in the first stanza. Is that you in the photo. Adorable.💘
That comma on purpose is in the middle of the line. The comma in the first stanza is at the end of the line. The common on purpose is internal punctuation. Yeah, sugar cubes! In the better times, it was fun to steal them from beside the coffee urns at church and other gatherings. Thanks for the post!
Just being reminded of (for me) those yellow boxes filled, or partially filled, on our pantry shelves with strange hard cubes that haven't thought of, nor remembered, for years, fulfilled a hunger for spending time in my memories of the past I didn't realize I had -- have spent so much energy over the years blocking the past (pain, confusion, anger) . . . The title and story of "Hunger Song," along with closing line, "there's sweetness inside every little hell" will stick with me for a long time. Thank you.
I love this.
Thank you, Elizabeth!
Thank you. I do like the picture you posted to accompany the poem. Brings back memories of my cousins' house on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin.
Thank you, David. Yep, that’s my sisters and I.
Mr. Alexie: I hope you see this. I have written a play adaptation of your short story "What I Pawn You Will Redeem" and I was wondering if you could take a look at it. My e-mail is: dblock001@gmail.com I was hoping you could e-mail me and I can attach a copy to you. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing the photo. :)
I love the poem and hearing about the details of how you create „buildings“, not just rooms, as you say. Amazing!
Thank you!
just read Lore Rubin new book. Sugar was served when kids were hungry Vienna l930 --Memories of a Chaotic World
I don’t know that writer or book. But the sugar seems to be a universal food-when-hungry thing.
Reminds me of my middle schools years when I would get $1 for school lunch each day. Instead of spending it on the awful school lunch (slop being passed off as chicken chow mien or "pizza") I would buy two doughnuts from the yearbook fundraiser table as soon I got to school and eat them right away. They tasted sooo good, but then I would deal with the intermittent bellyache and hunger pains all day. I learned nothing from that routine. Mine was a different kind of poverty than yours, Sherman, a poverty of common sense.
Yeah, I made those poor food choices, as well. And, sometimes, even when we had enough food in the kitchen, there were slim pickings because the reservation was a food desert.
I really like the placement of "quell" and "hell" because they emphasize the resourcefulness of the children. The sugar may be empty calories, but quelling hell with togetherness and a little sweetness is an important life lesson--quite useful for later.
I loved hearing about your construction. The fragment that created the poem reminds me of other amazing lines you have written, such as "Everything looks like a noose if you stare at it long enough."
Hearing you discuss the creation of your poem is such an amazing opportunity. I had always hoped to attend one of your readings before COVID, but I was unable to do that, so I am very grateful to hear you read your own work and speak about its construction.
Thanks for the window into your work and creative process.
Thank you so much, Kathryn. It sounds like my detailing of the poem’s blueprint worked for you!
Yes, definitely.
I love this poem, and I love the intro to the podcast--my favorite song from one of my favorite movies! I also enjoyed seeing the "blueprints".
Thank you for the feedback!
I love the music and I actually saw Smoke Signals. I haven’t thought of sugar cubes for ages. They were my favorite food as a child. You also have a comma in the first stanza. Is that you in the photo. Adorable.💘
That comma on purpose is in the middle of the line. The comma in the first stanza is at the end of the line. The common on purpose is internal punctuation. Yeah, sugar cubes! In the better times, it was fun to steal them from beside the coffee urns at church and other gatherings. Thanks for the post!
Just being reminded of (for me) those yellow boxes filled, or partially filled, on our pantry shelves with strange hard cubes that haven't thought of, nor remembered, for years, fulfilled a hunger for spending time in my memories of the past I didn't realize I had -- have spent so much energy over the years blocking the past (pain, confusion, anger) . . . The title and story of "Hunger Song," along with closing line, "there's sweetness inside every little hell" will stick with me for a long time. Thank you.
Thank you, Wendy. Yeah, even if it seems that I’m good at person archaeology, there is much I keep buried.