Psycho-Babble Books Thread 398596

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Has anyone heard of the author James Tate?

Posted by Jai Narayan on October 3, 2004, at 16:49:10

He wrote a series of books of poems.
I will share a poem with you from:
"Memoir of the Hawk" by James Tate

An Afternoon in Hell

He cries awhile, for no apparent reason.
Sniffs, blows his nose. Then goes about his
business, stomp, pound, smash, crush, explode.
Then cries a little more, sob, blubber, bleat.
It's awful, he says. It's of no use. He throws
his chair through the window. It's a mess, he says.
The whole damed thing is useless. Now he's
really weeping, cascades, waterfalls, rivers.
I shouldn't bother, he says. It's a big miserable
waste of time. His wife walks in. Honey,
haven't you finished changing the baby yet?
Almost finished, he chirps.

I just attended a Literary Festival where he read. There were about 50 people at this mornings reading. We were all laughing till our eyes were full of tears. Tears of laughter. Delightful.

James Tate in Lost River a funny, droll man!

Posted by Jai Narayan on October 4, 2004, at 13:04:22

In reply to Has anyone heard of the author James Tate?, posted by Jai Narayan on October 3, 2004, at 16:49:10

The Memories of fish
by James Tate

Stanley took a day off from the office
and spent the whole day talking to fish in
his aquarium. To the little catfish scuttling
along the bottom he said, "Vacuum that scum,
boy. Suck it up, that's your job. " The skinny
pencil fish swam by and he said, "Scribble,
scribble, scribble. Write me a novel, needle-
nose." The angel executed a particularly
masterful left-turn and Stanley said, "You're
no angel, but you sure can drive." Then he broke
for lunch and made himself a tuna fish sandwich
the irony of which did not escape him. Oh no,
he wallowed in it, savoring every bite. Then
he returned to his chair in front of the aquarium.
A swarm of tiny neons amused him. "What do you
think this is, Times Square!" he shouted. And
so it went long into the night. The next morning
Stanley was horribly embarrassed by his behavior
and he apologized to the fish several times,
but they never really forgave him. He had mocked
their very fishiness, and for this there can be
no forgiveness.

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