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

Wed Jul 15 14:20:03 UTC 2015

Sounds like I will have to at least definitely visit, smile. Thanks.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William L
Houts via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 3:23 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Cc: William L Houts
Subject: Re: [stylist] Poem - "Reed College" - Final Draft

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?"

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