2023 Kentucky Book Club discussion
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Bright Dead Things
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Thoughts/Discussion on Bright Dead Things
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On standout poems, This quote from 'Bellow' always hits me, every single time I reread this book:"tell them that you didn't come here
to make a fuss, or break, or growl, or
scream; tell them-crazy sky and stars
between-tell them you didn't come
to disturb the night air and throw a fit,
then get down in the dark and do it."
I think it's a real testament to Limon's ability to dig into tough emotions like rage without overwhelming the reader, or by dragging the poem down into that emotion.
Additionally, I think about In the Country of Resurrection all the time when I see roadkill, so I guess that means that one stands out to me too.
I also loved "Bellow." Another favorite is "The Divine Wild." She has a way with descriptions--a zipper of stream and the derelict picnic table, like bleached-out bones in the heat.
I have never been much of a poetry person, but I found this book and Limon's work to be very impactful to me, particularly the section of poems that addressed loss. Many of the emotions conveyed in her poems, particularly "In a Mexican Restaurant I Recall How Much You Upset Me" and "The Riveter", brought me back to the complicated emotions that come from the loss of someone you love dearly, even when they were not a perfect person and may have hurt you. These lines from "In a Mexican Restaurant I Recall How Much You Upset Me" felt like they encompassed every emotion I felt with the loss of my grandmother:"Sometimes you were mean.
Sometimes I was angry...
But love is impossible and it goes on
despite the impossible. You’re the muscle
I cut from the bone and still the bone
remembers, still it wants (so much, it wants)
the flesh back, the real thing,
if only to rail against it, if only
to argue and fight, if only to miss
a solve-able absence."
"The Quiet Machine" was another poem that really stuck out to me, particularly the part about various kinds of silent. From the writer's perspective, I read that part to be more about the unsettling or uncomfortable amount of silence you'll find in rural Kentucky after coming from a large urban center. But to me, Kentucky silent is the peaceful quiet of rural Kentucky - feeling the warm sun on your face and hearing the wind rustle through the trees. New York silent is sitting with the sounds of the city engulfing the space around you.
Personally, I don't read much poetry; it's not something I find in my typical literary wheelhouse so this was a bit out of my comfort zone, so to speak. That being said, I found the overall work to be accessible; by that I mean some poetry can be...confusing, at least to me, and difficult to follow along with. I didn't feel as though I was scratching my head looking for meaning when reading Limon's work as the themes she was seeking to convey in "Bright Dead Things" came across well in my reading. Themes of youth, age, loss, love and change, with the latter sort of being a major through line. The change of coming to a new place, which for Limon was Kentucky, the changing of life and relationships; the desire to retain a sense of self as she moves into the “we" of a relationship with her husband. Change seemed to abound in this collection.
Some general questions I'd like to throw out to the group, including what your thoughts are on the overall work, but some Bluegrass-centric things I wanted to toss out as well:
- Was there any one poem in the collection that stood out most to you? One that you kept coming back to for a re-read? For me it's "Miracle Fish" and "Home Fires" that will stick with me the most.
- In the poem "Down Here," Limon makes note of a colloquialism she had never heard before moving here as she writes, "There is a saying down here, I'd never heard before, I hate it for you. It means, if the dog pees on the carpet, I hate it for you, Too bad for you. It means, if you're alone, when love is all around, We all tip our lonely hats in one un-lonely sound."
I have to say, I'm not too familiar with this particular saying and was wondering if anyone else was and wanted to share their own thoughts on it. Certainly I've heard a "well bless your heart" many times in life, but this was a relatively new one to me.
- Something I'm really keen to hear from folks about is in "The Quiet Machine" where Limon writes, "There's daytime silent when I stare, and a nighttime silence when I do things. There's a shower silent and bath silent and California silent and Kentucky silent..." Really curious to hear people's own definition on what "Kentucky silent" is for them.
- Lastly, let's talk about "State Bird." Limon makes no illusions that she, admittedly, wasn't too keen on living in Kentucky. That's nothing against her in the slightest. Limon was born in California, studied and lived in Washington and New York, so the prospect of Kentucky was a huge unknown I'd imagine. Speaking as someone who was born, raised and still living here, the prospect of moving somewhere entirely new is a bit frightful. To that end, I'd like to throw out the question to folks: If you're not from Kentucky, did you want to live here? Or if you've always lived in Kentucky, or maybe have for many years, what is it that's keeping you here?
Those are my two cents on the discussion front. Would love to hear folks' thoughts on the above, or whatever else you'd like to throw into the ring. Maybe you had a completely different experience or other questions pop out at you, and if that's the case would love to hear those too!