Coyote
Welcome to our little world, Robert. A lot of folks are honored that you have agreed to stop by. Is this your first experience in a graphical chat world like this one?
Bob Hass
Yes it is! I like that phrase "graphical chat world."
Coyote
What are your first impressions, so far?
Bob Hass
I'm waiting to have them.
Coyote
Would you mind if I asked a few questions about your childhood?
Bob Hass
I wouldn't mind.
Coyote
What is your earliest memory?
Bob Hass
The sound of fog horns.
Coyote
Where was it?
Bob Hass
I was born in San Francisco, and I'm told that I used to be put out on the roof to take naps. And when I tried to figure out what my earliest memory was that was what I remembered. I didn't live far from the Golden Gate Bridge and that low moaning sound of fog horns was probably around.
Coyote
Does the sound of fog horns bring any special feelings now?
Bob Hass
There was less radar then, so you heard the fog horns all the time. Every once in awhile I see one of those old movies of San Francisco in the '40s with actors like Bogart and John Garfield running around in trench coats, and the soundtrack is always drenched in that low moan. And I keep hoping that somebody dressed in those tight 1940s skirts with the bright lipstick and the piled up hair will solicit me to carry some secret message onto a Shanghai freighter.
Bob Hass
I'm curious about your logos. Did everyone create their own?
Be A Light
I created my own.
Coyote
I did my own.
Zendog
My own, too.
Coyote
It's become part of my identity.
Bob Hass
Is everyone here satisfied with their logo?
Be A Light
I am.
Coyote
Feels good.
Zendog
It's hard to change the one you use a lot -- almost like changing your name.
Bob Hass
Coyote, where did your logo come from? Coyote Tales? Coyote myths?
Coyote
Coyote myth, very loosely interpreted. I think people tend to represent themselves as the archetype they long to become.
Bob Hass
Have you read Barry Lopez's collection of Native American coyote stories?
Coyote
No, I have not ...
Bob Hass
Coyote, in the stories, is a pretty wild character.
D
My English teacher says that all poets write in "Iambic Spondaic Amphibrachic feet" etc., etc. or else they are wrong and should not be writing poetry at all. Is that true?
Bob Hass
No, that's not true. Your own natural speech and natural breath is all the amphibrac you need.
D
Can I have that in writing?
Bob Hass
Yeah sure :) Write to me at the Library of Congress. Address it to the Poet Laureate's Office and give me your address, and I'll send you a letter on official stationery explaining that your teacher is dead wrong and you are absolutely right.
D
Thanks a lot, Bob. Your a life saver. My whole class will love this.
Zendog
Bob, has being the Poet Laureate of the US changed the way people treat you or respond to your poems?
Bob Hass
Yes, I think that the title sounds so grand that sometimes people suddenly like my poems.
Be A Light
Bob, I was curious how you felt about the bible.
Bob Hass
Are you a reader of the Bible?
Be A Light
I read it everyday.
Bob Hass
What translation do you read?
D
Several but especially New World Trans.
Bob Hass
There's a translation of the Book of Job by my friend Stephen Mitchell, who is a student of Hebrew and a wonderful poet. He thinks that the last part of Job had been misunderstood by previous Hebrew scholars, and he did this new version that's really worth reading.
Be A Light
What do you believe about it?
Bob Hass
What do you believe about some other old book of wisdom? The writings of Lao-Tse or Confucius? What I believe isn't really an issue for me. Do you mean, do I believe it is the inspired word of God?
Be A Light
Right, do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that the only way to eternal life is through Him?
Bob Hass
No, I don't think Jesus Christ was divine in any special sense. I was raised a Catholic, but I've come to think that Jesus was a powerful teacher and that it was his followers who made these great claims for him. (What he said was that the kingdom of God is within you.)
Joe
Do you think that suffering creates strong character?
Bob Hass
Sometimes. And sometimes suffering breaks people all-together.
D
Bob, what if I feel all the important poetry has already been written and I have ceased to write?
Bob Hass
The language is always wearing out. Every generation has to make it new. If everybody felt that way, we'd have no poetry since Chaucer. And it'd all be in a language that didn't have the feel of our world in it. There'd certainly be no poem with the phrase "graphical chat" in it.
Spoon
What is the relationship between song lyrics and poetry?
Bob Hass
Song lyrics are poems that have to behave in tandem with the music - like the difference between dancing alone and dancing with a partner.
Devil
: What responsibilities go along with being Poet Laureate?
Bob Hass
The Poet Laureate has to give poetry readings and lectures at the Library of Congress, and you become a sort of spokesperson for American letters literacy issues.
Willie
How often is a new poet laureate elected?
Bob Hass
The Poet Laureate is appointed for a year. It's renewable, but nobody's ever wanted to do it for more than a couple of years.
MISS P
Bob, what do you think of Milton's vision of Lucifer vs. traditional concept of the Fall?
Bob Hass
You know I haven't read Milton in so long that I don't really have an opinion. I remember the poet Blake saying that Milton was really of the devil's party.
Peduci
Novels get movie deals, comic books get merchandising dolls, music gets TV commercial retakes, poetry doesn't get much in the way of ancillaries - would increased popularity corrupt the art?
Bob Hass
No, I don't think it would. But there'd probably be a lot more bad poetry. Still, it's good for every art to have live forms from very popular to very complicated.
Coyote
What poetry do you enjoy reading the most?
Bob Hass
I read such a range, from old poets to contemporaries that it's hard to say. Sort of like saying what's your favorite food: one day you want orange juice, another day you have a craving for salads or something.
Arctic Frost
Do you see the tactics of congress to suppress freedom on the Internet frightening?
Bob Hass
Yeah I do. Do you, Arctic Frost? What is it about it that worries you?
Arctic Frost
I'm afraid it will stifle writing, especially on the computer services.
Bob Hass
I'm more worried about the economics of the medium. I'm worried about kids who grow up too poor to have access to this technology.
Zendog
I heard you on an interview say that you admire the modern classic "Raid Kills Bugs Dead". What do you like about it?
Bob Hass
It's to the point. It was written by Lew Welsh, who was one of the beat poets, a friend of Allen Ginsberg. He was doing a gig as an advertising writer in San Francisco. "Raid Kills Bugs Dead" (which is probably redundant, but after all, the subject is overkill).
Coyote
What prompts you to write? Are there any particular events that trigger your writing?
Bob Hass
Different things at different times. I think I try to write about stuff I can't put into words.
Coyote
Ever try painting?
Bob Hass
A little bit. I'm in love with painting and I'm very bad at drawing. But I took a course once in the Chinese brush and really loved it.
MISS P
Do you know/like Steven Sandy's poetry?
Bob Hass
I know Steven Sandy's poetry and I know him a little. I like his work a lot. It's kind of plain and real musical and about ordinary things in subtle ways.
MISS P
Bob, who would you consider to be the 5 most important poets of the last 50 years (so we can run to the bookstore)?
Bob Hass
In Spanish, two: Pablo Neruda and Cesar Vallejo. In Polish, Czeslaw Milosz, Zbigniew Herbert and Wladislaw Symborska, who just won the Nobel Prize for Literature. She's really wonderful- very well translated and quirky original. She's the person I'm pushing these days. I think anybody who can think and read (we all have to feel) will like her a lot! She helps you to live in this century.
pipsqueek
What are your efforts for literacy?
Bob Hass
I'm concerned that kids aren't being taught to read because the schools are so overcrowded and underfunded, so I've spent a lot of time going around talking to business groups trying to get people to realize that we have a crisis on our hands - and that it doesn't have to do with beating Japan economically. It has to do with the idea we had that if you're gonna have a democracy everybody gets a chance to learn how to read.
Arctic Frost
What language would you say is the most poetic?
Bob Hass
When I'm writing, I always feel like any language but the one I'm writing in is VERY poetic :)
Coyote
How do you propose to get kids motivated to read?
Bob Hass
One thing that helps a lot is to motivate the parents. There are reading groups starting up for the parents of inner city kids funded by local groups like rotary and Kiwanis. After dinner, parents can get together at the school, have coffee and cookies and talk about novels and poems and stories their kids are reading. The parents have liked it a lot.
Guest 718
What about kids without parents like me?
Bob Hass
Tough, tough situation. Where are your parents?
Guest 718
In jail, unfortunately.
Bob Hass
Where are you living?
Guest 718
Baltimore. They're in jail in Camden, NJ, though.
Bob Hass
In Baltimore, there's a couple of very good book stores that sponsor reading groups.
Guest 718
Like Louie's? The owner of Louie's almost adopted me, but the stupid government blocked it.
Bob Hass
How did the government block it?
Guest 718
Because I guess he's gay or something. That is so discriminatory.
Bob Hass
This sounds like a long story -- have you tried to write about it?
Guest 718
Yes I tried, but I am a frustrated writer, lots inside but nothing comes out.
Bob Hass
Good. If you're reading and writing... if nothing comes out, it's because you got your own censor looking over your shoulder. Just lower your expectations and write it.
spoon
Patience and persistence, eh?
Bob Hass
Not just patience and persistence. You have to be willing to be awkward and stupid.
Guest 718
Your poem The Gardens of Warsaw brings me to tears every time I read it, in part because it is so beautiful, and in part because I could never create something so beautiful.
Arctic Frost
You never know till you try.
Zendog
Would Josef Brodski make your 50-years list?
Bob Hass
I'm not sure. Josef Brodski is supposed to be a great poet, and he's really hard to translate into English, so the version we get to read isn't always so great. But I love his essays. It's easier to translate prose.
Guest 718
Do you think this new trend of poetry jams in bars and coffee shops is healthy for poetry, or is making it overly pop?
Bob Hass
Oh I think it's healthy.
Arctic Frost
I thought that was an old trend. I'm too old.
Bob Hass
Arctic Frost, it's true... it's not so new, but it's newer some places than others. Where do you live?
Arctic Frost
I'm in Alaska.
Guest 718
Well it's exploded over the last few years, even in my parents jail, believe it or not.
Bob Hass
That's so interesting that there are poetry jams at the jail your parents are in.
Guest 718
I went to one. It was very emotional.
Coyote
Can poetry as we know it survive in a world dominated by fast, disconnected, commercial, images? Or does it need to redefine itself into a new form, like rock and roll lyrics?
Bob Hass
There are so many commercial images that poetry as it is gets to be more important. It's like television and advertising and politics are the teacher droning in front of the classroom, and poetry is the notes the kids are passing back and forth amongst themselves.
Willie
What do you feel about the Internet as a tool for teaching language and reading?
Bob Hass
You won't believe this probably, but this is only my second time on the Internet. I'm a very low tech person though I am working at it. So I really don't have an opinion... I hope it's an effective teacher.
spoon
It's a people's distribution medium.
Bob Hass
It's a people's distribution medium for people who can afford computers. I'm really worried that we're developing a two-class society, like Victorian England. So, it seems important to get them technology in the inner city classrooms and inner city libraries.
Zendog
People with computer access underestimate how many people don't have access.
Bob Hass
That's right!
Coyote
I like your idea of getting the parents together after school. Requires a lot of charisma to draw folks away from our TV sets, though ...
Bob Hass
Less and less charisma. All those people surfing 52 channels and nothing to watch but reruns of 70's rock videos on MTV.
Guest 718
What were you like as a kid?
Bob Hass
I don't know. What were you like as a kid?
Guest 718
Boring, a dreamer. I mean were you a poet-to-be as a kid?
Bob Hass
If you were dreaming, it can't have been so boring. Oh, I read a lot. I also did a lot of sports, though I was never particularly good at them. But I think I had some vague idea that I wanted to be a writer even when I was ten.
Guest 718
But do you think you were a poet-to-be, or that it wasn't predetermined when you were a kid?
Bob Hass
That is an interesting question! Fate and free-will. Do you think things are pre-determined?
Guest 718
To some extent, yes. Like that my parents would be crooks, unfortunately. They said they knew that when they were six.
Bob Hass
I think we have to act as if we had free will since we can't really know whether we do or not.
Arctic Frost
I believe courses are predetermined, not people.
Bob Hass
Interesting idea, say more.
Arctic Frost
Paths lead in directions. They can have some determination of their destination, but the person walks the path and chooses the course, and can turn direction at anytime.
Guest 718
When my mom was 6 she wrote a story saying when she grew up she'd be in jail. Isn't that weird?
Bob Hass
Not so weird. When will your parents be out?
Guest 718
My dad never, and my mom in three years.
pipsqueek
What did they do?
Guest 718
I'd rather not say if that's OK with you. I'm kind of ashamed of them as you can imagine.
Bob Hass
I can understand that -- I've read and taught in prisons and I know that one of the unwritten rules is that you don't ask.
Guest 718
Thanks. I've had a lot of support from my church.
Britta
Do you know the Swedish writer of poems "Gunnar Ekelof" and what do you think of his work?
Bob Hass
I like what I know of Ekelof -- he was one of the first European poets to get interested in Sufi ideas. I also love a lot a younger Swedish poet named Tomas Transtromer and he was influenced by Ekelof.
Coyote
Do you think that good collaborative poetry is possible? Or are solitary authors best suited for creating meaningful art? We've tried to create stories as a group here, but with meandering results ...
Bob Hass
I think stories, though fun as play, isn't a good approach. The best collaborative written art I know is the Japanese renga, and I would think it would be ideal for collaborative work in this medium. Its philosophy has to do with understanding change.
Coyote
How does it work?
Bob Hass
If you read my book "The Essential Haiku", you'll get some sense of how renga work. There are lots of books on the subject, but the basic idea is that the first person writes three lines of poetry: for example, "A cloudy gray afternoon/ the plum blossoms already gone/ wind off the Pacific." Then, the next person has to write two lines that complete the poem. Anyone want to try?
spoon
Window reflections/ voices beyond the wall.
Bob Hass
Great, spoon! Now, the next person starts with the two lines: window reflections/ voices beyond the wall; and the next person has to write three lines that complete that poem independently of the first. In other words, it doesn't have to have the weather or the season of my part of the poem. Guest 718, suppose after those lines; window reflections/ voices through the wall -- you wrote "it could snow in Baltimore/ I have been thinking about / my parents and my life".
Guest 718
Wow that's nice!!
Bob Hass
You see, it can be pretty simple.
Coyote
I close my eyes / the wind hurls / where did my spirit go?
Bob Hass
So now, ahh... Coyote! The way it works we now have one poem.
Coyote
when does it stop?
Bob Hass
There are two forms: one goes on for 36 verses and one goes on for 100 verses in Japanese. What the Japanese did was have each session supervised by a master poet who was a renga teacher and could accept or reject a verse- most of the famous haiku poets made their living as renga masters. Probably that's too formal for Americans, but you could have a kind of informal guide.
Guest 718
Bob, if you could be anything at all in the world, would you be a poet?
Bob Hass
I think so... most of the time. I like my life. Sometimes I want to live without words.
Coyote
Okay, Bob, you've been very generous with your time ...
Bob Hass
It's been fun!
Coyote
I want to thank you on behalf of everyone. You've given us a lot to think about and pass on ...