Guest Pages by Kent Lewis
My friend Kent has agreed to share several poems he’s written. They’re great! They’re grouped together on two pages:
Coins and Koans ~ Starbuck’s Lament - Drink Wine - The Binding of Abraham - The Loneliness of the Kaiten Sushi
Theorists and Other Assassins ~ James Bond at 80 - A Theoretical Poem - On a Moonless Steppe - A Poem to Respond to Roger's Fractal Speculations
Some of these poems can also be found in my writing projects:
“The Binding of Abraham” is in The Double Refuge, following a page on how we might widen our definitions of religion.
“Drink Wine” is half-way down the page of Nishapur Wine.
“Starbuck’s Lament” is in Crisis 22: Ukraine, at the end of a chapter on Russian and American exceptionalism. “Starbuck’s Lament” is one of the most powerful poems I’ve ever read — up there with Shelley’s “England in 1819” and Auden’s “The Shield of Achilles.” Kent’s my friend, so I’m biased, but judge for yourself! The poem isn’t about a café worker, but about our reactions to the rich and powerful when they treat the world as if it were their personal golf course. Will they drive us spinning into the air, or putt us down the hole? Will we be their willing caddy? This golf metaphor is my own — Kent’s metaphors are closer to those in Melville’s Moby Dick.