[stylist] Poem - "Reed College" - Final Draft

[William L Houts]

Hey Brigit,

Portland is a beautiful city, with a youthful, liberal atmosphere.  It 
rains a lot, but that only means that there's lots of green.  Also, I 
remember the people as usually falling within the civil to friendly 
range.  I haven't been there for 30 years, but I still remember the 
restaurants, Reed College of course, and Powell's Bookstore.  It's 
energetic, and yet somehow also serene. I couldn't recommend it more highly.



--Bill






On 7/14/2015 1:05 PM, Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist wrote:
> Hey,
>
> All you Oregonians, is that how you say it? Anyway, for some inexplicable
> reason, I've been feeling drawn to Portland. Not that I would really pick up
> and move, but.. What's it like? Is it as interesting as I'm making it in my
> head?
>
> Bridgit
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William L
> Houts via stylist
> Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 1:28 PM
> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
> Cc: William L Houts
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Poem - "Reed College" - Final Draft
>
>
> HI Shawn,
>
> Reed College is in Portland, Oregon.  Beautiful campus, obscenely gifted,
> often ironic  student body.  I fit right in and was popular for the first
> time in my school life.  But I wasn't yet ready for the work load, and I had
> other fish to fry anyway, like many kids at that time in their life.  I've
> heard that the drop out rate at Reed, at least during the time I went there,
> was very high.
>
>
> --Bill
>
>
>
>
> On 7/14/2015 9:13 AM, Jacobson, Shawn D via stylist wrote:
>> I came to this poem late, just now, and find it very interesting.  I like
> the comparison of alternative learning to magicians and witches learning
> through arcane means.  I think our culture is not comfortable with anything
> done through unconventional means.
>> BTW--is Reed college in Maine, I think I had a co-worker who went there.
>>
>> Shawn
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William
>> L Houts via stylist
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 11:44 AM
>> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: William L Houts
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] Poem - "Reed College" - Final Draft
>>
>> HI Jackie,
>>
>> I can deeply relate to your experience, even though it was something of
> the opposite to mine.  In my family, no one had gone to college and so
> family dreams were laid on my back to carry. When I came home from Reed that
> year, I was viewed like some kind of loser christ who had failed to stay on
> the cross for the requisite three days.  The truth, though I couldn't
> articulate it at the time, is that I had suffered a nervous breakdown and
> was truly incapable of attending class. But things as hardcore as family
> aspirations don't acknowledge such things.  It's taken me this long, almost,
> to get over it and one of my brothers is still angry with me over the
> situation. Thank you, waiter, I thihnk I'll have your Damnation Plate this
> evening, together with an order of Guilt Salad.
>>
>> --Bill
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 7/14/2015 8:08 AM, Jackie Williams via stylist wrote:
>>> Bill,
>>> This brings back a painful time in my life. I first went to Iowa
>>> State College where my  father had gotten his Ph.D. in chemistry and
>>> was a revered teacher.
>>> I flunked chemistry with an I, meaning I had to take it over, and
>>> would get the grade I earned the second time. Not much better. This
>>> in a family where anything but an A was considered flunking!
>>> And so it goes when you follow other than your own passions.
>>> I liked the poem. Truly accessible.
>>>
>>> Jackie Lee
>>>
>>> Time is the school in which we learn.
>>> Time is the fire in which we burn.
>>> Delmore Schwartz	
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>> William L Houts via stylist
>>> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2015 1:13 PM
>>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>>> Cc: William L Houts
>>> Subject: [stylist] Poem - "Reed College" - Final Draft
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> HI Poets,
>>>
>>> Here's one I wrote some time ago, but which I haven't really shown to
>>> anybody.  I think it's a pretty friendly poem, but then I would,
>>> being its papa and all.
>>>
>>>
>>> --Bill
>>>
>>>
>>> ---
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Reed College
>>>
>>> It's a school of global fame,
>>>
>>> thronged with wits and prodigies.
>>>
>>> a scholar's earth: I flunked,
>>>
>>> though I clearly belonged.
>>>
>>> There's a joke in that,
>>>
>>> though it's taken thirty years to laugh.
>>>
>>> I've come to awareness, call it,
>>>
>>> by other paths.I've studied
>>>
>>> magicians and witches, the wisdom
>>>
>>> gain from walking backwards
>>>
>>> through mirrors, and forwards
>>>
>>> through minds also untroubled by schools,
>>>
>>> by rules of mental engagement.
>>>
>>> There's joy in that, and reason and rue,
>>>
>>> like walking kneewise through desert,
>>>
>>> sweltering sick
>>>
>>> and finding fountains cold,
>>>
>>> and gracious as mother.
>>>
>>> It's surprising, sustaining and true:
>>>
>>> I don't recommend it.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>


-- 


"Oh, Sophie!  Whyfore have you eated all de cheeldren?"