Recommended Reading: Robert Bly

Gratitude to Old Teachers by Robert Bly

When we stride or stroll across the frozen lake,
We place our feet where they have never been.
We walk upon the unwalked. But we are uneasy.
Who is down there but our old teachers?

Water that once could take no human weight-
We were students then- holds up our feet,
And goes on ahead of us for a mile.
Beneath us the teachers, and around us the stillness

Last Friday, Bill Moyers had poet Robert Bly on as a guest on his PBS talk show, The Bill Moyers Journal. Clips of this half hour interview are available here. While most recognizable as one of the faces of the men's movement, thanks to his best-selling book Iron John: A Book About Men, Robert Bly came to my attention through his translations of Kabir, Rilke and Neruda, as well as, his own poetry, much of which I attempted to read while an undergraduate Literature major.

I was fortunate enough, in the early nineties, to attend one of his readings, and to have a copy of Iron John signed by him. Personally, I've always found Bly to be more accessible than Gary Snyder and others, though I have a great love for both, they each speak to a different energy. Bly pulls in elements and energy from across the whole globe (as a result one can assume of his own love of translation), making the exotic seem commonplace, thereby bringing into alignment the human experience. Even now as I reread his poetry, I am only beginning to fully digest some of the deep imagery...

Bly continues to write poetry and social commentary today, but as I listened to him on Bill's show I was reminded of the genuine, earthy genius that attracted me to his translations and writings as a youth.

Perhaps these might appeal to you, too?

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!