Look, it's not very often you run into a literary genius, but when you do it can put you in a tailspin. Words crafted in such a way, that your proud that you speak English. Even if it's a guy from Yugoslavia.
Charles Simic was born in war torn Yugoslavia after the second world war. His experience in a Communist country was not unlike Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello with Rock and Roll. In Communist Yugoslavia it was Illegal to listen to western radio, but he had an old radio, a station that played Jazz and the guts to plug it in and upset his mother. It's this kind of boldness and outright disregard for the status quot that makes great artists.
I stumbled upon Charles much of the same way I learn about many contemporary poets. I found him through a great website entitled, The Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Now most of us think that poetry is a really tongue and cheek art form. Kind of boring or just not interesting enough to get our heads wrapped around. Charles Simic's writing is way different. It's like going through a museum full of your A typical art pieces and running into a Dali or a Duchamp. It blurs reality a little and gives you the feeling that your in the middle of a dream that he is having. As if your really there taking it all in as he does. That's what intrigues me about his work.
He was appointed the fifteenth Poet Laureate consultant in poetry in the library of congress, and has a Pulitzer prize for his craft. Quaintly put, the man has a black belt in poetry. That doesn't mean much in our Country these days, but there are some of us that know better.
Reading an Interview of Charles makes you feel sorry for the interviewer a little bit, because Charles sees through the bullshit. The vile pretension that the media world has to offer. One doesn't need to ask the man questions to understand him. One needs to read his work. May I suggest my favorite " I am The Last"
Simic's Poems are actually not quite poems at all they are considered Poetry Prose. Which If I may explain quickly is a cross between poetry and prose which is a spoken language type of literature. It has been noted these two are actually the opposite. Charles seems to understand this and makes note of it. There is no meter to this writing nor lyrical frivolousness, just hard nosed language molding that he is well respected for. It's gives me the same great feeling when I'm reading the work of Haiku masters of old. Choosing the right work to perfectly paint a picture. Cheers Charles, enjoy a Merlot tonight and keep writing buddy.
