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daily nebraskan
thursday, february 19, 1976
faska poets employ modern, personal themes
1 " ...1.1 j a r.nnH Poem' to Die By." says,
By Bill Roberts . n
Nebraska Poets, edited by Greg KuzmaThe Best Cellar
Press, Crete, Neb., $3
The urge to discover what these 36 Nebraska poets
write about probably comes more from voyeurism than
state patriotism. Certainly Nebraska Poets will satisfy
readers interested in peeking into people's private lives,
more than those interested in "life on the prairie.' There
are no Conestoga wagons here.
Most of these poems, selected by Greg Kuzma, UNL
poetry instructor, have a personal theme ' and
contemporary setting. .. .
Nancy L. Mastalir's poem, "11574," is an example.
The title and first line imply that Mastalir's life changed
on that date: "I do not want to be old while I am young,
she begins. A metaphor of trees slides neatly into the
poem: "So young, already giving up the leaves." The
poem ends with the convincing declaration, "I shall not
be married." - ,.
"Butchering, 1936," By Claire Mattern, tells a literal
and chilling stcry of a hog's fate. Mattern must have
drawn on farmyard experience to describe so expertly
the details of the killing and its purpose.
Poems about poems
Several poems about poets, poetry and the very poem
being written appear. Nancy Peters, in 'The Poem Poem,"
tells of her assignment to describe poetically a spider on
the wall. She found a web but no spider and as she relates
her quandry, 'This becomes that poem." .-
v ...1,1 ; a r.nnd Poem to Die By," says,
ores rwusiiuwB-i, m ' ... . r
"I want the poem to be everybody's las request of me.
This and several other things, he writes, should be brought
to him "wrapped in a plain brown grease spotted poem.
"My Lawyer '& 1," by Carl Chrisman, is an ironic and
hilarious taTe of jungle intrigue and an assault by a huge
ape. Although it begins with a group of men deciding to
check on their interest, Chrisman makes sense of it all
by puns and dream-logic. -
The personal manner of much of this work naturally
comes from humble subject matter Ted Kooser
beautiful "In the Comers of Fields," James Nelcsen $
funny "Weeds", and Nancy McCleery's erotic "Bruise
show this in their titles.
Grand subjects, then soar
On the other hand, some of the poems start with grand
subjects and then soar upwards. "A Winter Celebration
For My Son and Daughter," by Mordecai Marcus, has
intense personal passion and a high purpose. Greg
Kuzma's 'The Highwayman" is mythic, not personal at
all, and one of the best, most exciting poems in the book.
Perhaps the best generalization to make about tills
book is that it's a mixed bag. The quality is as varied as
the subject matter. For example, Roy Scheele's snappy
"One For The Kids," about a bumblebee, is followed by
the awful "Demoralized " an unnecessary retelling of an
Aesop fable.
The book may be hard to characterize, but it's easy
to like. Good poetry is being written in this state, and
Nebraska Poets offers a reasonable priced selection of it.
Gallery Theatre Production presents
an enjoyable view into poet's world .
By Charlie Krig
"We're going to travel fast and far tonight because we
have a world to girdle and cross in less than two hours:
the fabulous World of Carl Sandburg."
With these words, Colleen Blair will open the next Gal
lery Theatre Production at the Lincoln Community Play
house, tonight at 8.
It was previewed Tuesday.
Once the lights come up on the small, intimate stage,
you know that this evening will be one of delight and vari
ety, and the capable cast of The World of Carl Sandburg
will keep you entertained.
Director Molly Lange has assembled eight talented ac
tors, Ann Perkinton, Colleen Blair, Carol Svoboda, Alice
Hasenyager, Lee Lukehaxt, Mark Johnson, Larry Filler
and Don Williamson, in an adaptation of Sandburg's
works by Norman Corwin. In the course of the play,
which actually is a reader's theatre, topics range from fog
to love to tableclothes to babies.
The mood also varies subjects, bringing out the com
pany's talent in all modes of emotion and expression.
Ann Perkinton 's truthful tale about the joy and sobrie
ty of motherhood is matched by the nonsensical "Hong
dorshe" proverb by Alice Hasenyager.
Doug Pipan also is worth mentioning for hus imagina
tive lighting design. With every change of rhythm, mood
or theme, an appropriate emphasis was given the actors
and set. He enhanced each part without detracting from
its importance.
The play also will run this weekend at 8 pjn. Feb. 20
and 21, with a 2:30 pjm. matinee Feb. 22. Phone 489
9608 for reservations.
Trio's concert ahead
The Sheldon Trio . will honor George
Washington's birthday with a concert of American
music Sunday at 8 pjn. in the Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery. General public tickets cost $2 and
student tickets are $1.50.
The program includes a String Quartet
supposedly written by Benjamin Franklin. The
composition, which was discovered in Paris in the
1940s, requires the violins to be mis-tuned. This
eccentricity is one reason scholars believe Franklin
wrote the piece.
Also on the' program are works by Charles
Wakefield Cadman, Douglas Moore, Louis
Gottschalk, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Russell
Bennett and Arthur Fotte.
Jack Snider, UNL Band director, will apear as
guest violinist of regular trio members Dorothy and
Gary Lewis and Arnold Schatz.
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