B. Z. Nidith's Boston, Fall and Other Poems

B. Z. Niditch has been a feature on Poet Hound before, check out my interview with him about his collection called Portraits Here: B. Z. Niditch's Portraits
Mr. Niditch’s book, Boston, Fall and Other Poems was published by Encircle Publications, LLC in 2008 and is based out of his experiences in Harvard and places around Massachusetts. The poems are divided into two parts, Part I is titled Harvard Square, Part II is titled Diary. The poems in both sections are beautiful and expressive while encompassing small moments around campus or on the water. Below I will share some small samples:

In a poem titled “Public Gardens” I am enchanted by the sight described by Niditch: “planting your steps/by sacks of rose petals/in public gardens,/noon day seems endless/and a friend waits up.” I can’t help but wonder what the sacks of rose petals are for while he watches his friend and ends this short poem with “for a deafened half-hour/your arms are sealed/by wheel barrels/or rose tattoos.” I like the image of “rose tattoos” of petals clinging to bare arms as they are carried. It is a moment in time that leaves me wanting more.

In “Diary” the lines begin as “By the troubled river/you write Tuesday/on footsteps of a page/the charred diary/moves to the opposite shore/of flagging remorse…” I wonder if the diary is the owner’s or has been recently discovered. Again, Mr. Niditch reveals just enough and uses interesting images such as “on footsteps of a page” to entice us to read further. The one holding the diary is looking out on the water “in regret,/watching sparrows/…on an abandoned landscape/” and Niditch continues to observe in silence “you touch the water/with your tender fingertips/in clumsiness of enigmas/and feel hatless/and anonymous/to your own signature.” This is how he concludes the poem, he ends it in a way I think we can all relate to when we are feeling sad or lost. “anonymous/to your own signature” are powerful words as they sink in. This is another poem that says just enough and leaves me wanting more of the story.

“The Insomniac” is a clever description of a sleepless night which made me smile. The entire first stanza is superb but I will give just the tail end of it: “flashlights play with you/trembling, “time out”/and the alarm clock/refuses to speak.” Any sleepless night means frequent glances at the alarm clock and the endless consternation of time passing slower and slower. Those lines are a perfect portrayal. The second stanza is just as superb but of course I can only give you a small piece: “tossing from sea beds/rolled in blankets/of deafened nights/bent over sleepy wilderness.” You can easily liken the rolling, restless slumberer to rolling in underwater “sea beds” or being lost in the imaginary “sleepy wilderness.” His words allow your imagination to run while also evoking empathy for the insomniac in the poem.

If you enjoyed this review you will be happy to know this book is still available at Encircle Publications for just under $12.00. I hope that you will enjoy these beautiful poems as much as I do and it may be in your local library, so it would be worth taking a look.

Thanks always for reading, please stop by tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

B Z Niditch and PORTRAITS

B. Z. Niditch is from Brookline, Massachusetts and also writes fiction, teaches, and is the founder and Artistic Director of The Original Theater in Boston. His more recent books include The Book of Maxims from Lummox Press in 2001 and Boston Fall and Others from Aurorean Press in 2008. Mr. Niditch’s collection of poems, Portraits, published by Propaganda Press, is a fantastic array of poems that focus on individualists, artists, musicians, and philosophers. The poems themselves are short but the words are rich with witty, remarkable descriptions. As a result, I could not resist asking Leah Angstman of Alternating Current for a way to contact him and she was kind enough to oblige. Since then Mr. Niditch and I have corresponded through letters. Mr. B.Z. Niditch was kind enough to answer my questions about his chapbook and the interview follows below:


1. Thanks for taking some time to answer my questions, I see that you have published several collections in your lifetime such as Milton; The Lot of the Poet, Poetica, and many more. When did you first fall in love with Poetry and take up writing on your own?

The first poetry I remember falling in love with was that of Dylan Thomas. At twelve-years-of-age, I was browsing in a Boston bookstore when a blue volume of verse by the Welsh poet caught my eye. I read some of it, brought it home, read some more, and was hooked. Though I had been concentrating for years on music, particularly the violin, my life took another direction after falling in love with the beautifully written notes of poetry.


2. What inspired you to create a collection of poems that creates portraits out of words as the title indicates?

For a long time, I’ve been intrigued by the connection between art and poetry. Thematically, PORTRAITS is most concerned with images, so I decided to write and collect an imagist, minimalist group of poems. These poems focus on real people, personalities who I believe have changed the way we experience reality by confronting our lives and our time through their art.


3. Your collection features a wide variety of people including great writers, philosophers, musicians, and people whose names I hate to admit I’m not familiar with but would still like to learn about. Who do all of these people mean to you and what about them inspired you to create a portrait out of words for them in particular?

What inspired me were the individuals themselves, artists who express themselves in a singular concept ional way that sets them apart from their peers. It’s my recognizing that they possess a knowledge that can be very different from others. This knowledge may be found in how these individuals express their views on topics I find especially important: exile; suffering; persecution; revolutionary and challenging ideas in language, music and art.



4. I want to ask you about your poem titled “Alain Veinstein” who is a French poet. I will post the poem below for the readers and how did you decide which words to use to create a poetic portrait of Veinstein?

Alain Veinstein

A rabbi exiled
in dark caves
whispers
the slaughter
of centuries.


The particular words and freshness of language suddenly emerged from me as I thought about the work of Alan Veinstein. My poetry in PORTRAITS emerges almost subconsciously as I respond to issues and ideas as I confront them. Often there are ones I have dealt with consistently in my literary career, such as that of the outsider prophetically reflecting on their own survival as they struggle to resist oppression.




5. I love your poem about philosopher and activist, Simone Weil. Could you tell us a little more about her for the sake of our readers and why she inspired you to create a portrait of her as follows?

Simone Weil

A saint whitewashed
in troubled handcuffs
an ache of loving wounds
on grindstones.


For me, Simone Weil is the long-suffering outsider, a brilliant woman who was something of a self-exiled soul. She could be alternately considered or classified as a mystic, a Gnostic, an agnostic, Jewish, Christian, a free thinker, a revolutionary, a rebel or a saint. Her primary cause was social justice. She believed that through her personal sacrifice for the oppressed she could redeem her soul and society.




6. Which poem, if not already mentioned, is your favorite and why?

Yves Bonnefoy

Trembling chimeras
from skeptical inkwells
draw along the shore
paint the undivided sea.

The poem “Yves Bonnefoy” is my personal favorite. He’s generally considered to be France’s greatest post-World War II poet and art critic. He was an individual who was fascinated by color, form, light, and lyricism. His works run across centuries and countries without borders.




7. The poetic portraits you created rarely exceed a dozen lines, is there any particular reason for the relatively short length?

I want my fans and friends to be readers who get to know PORTRAITS in a minimalist sense of time restraints, with a flash of but who will also return to PORTRAITS as in a painting with a flash of startling directness that tears you apart and sears the reader like a ball of fire, never forgetting the ashes which always stay with you.



8. When not writing poetry, what other things do you enjoy doing and do any of them have any influence on your writing?

Playing violin and taking notes for my poetry made me aim for euphony, that is sound, as well as a visual poetry of human language. For me, the greatest poetry is musical, from the oral tradition of the ancient bards, to that of the modernists and surrealists like myself in our world of written words.



Thank you, Mr. Niditch, for responding to my curiosity, it has been a pleasure. For other readers out there who may want to obtain a copy, you can find it at Propaganda Press Catalog for $6.00 and please note that not only do poets get royalties from their collections but you will also receive a free issue from the archives. Please support poets and the small press and thanks to all of you for reading.

Poetry Tips: Unusual Obsessions

This idea actually comes from the fact that someone I love teases me around this time of year because I am obsessed with chocolate hollow bunnies and cannot get enough of them. So while it inspired me to write bad poetry it got me to thinking that everyone has an unusual object or person they lust after and why not use it for the sake of a muse for poetry? What do you lust for that others would find highly unusual if not just plain weird? Can you turn it into poetry?

Good luck to all of you who try it and please drop in on Sunday for our second interview in honor of National Poetry Month with B.Z. Niditch…