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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 1985)
-4- I# zirq Duiqsuunj auiOH ■isiuaii JiHU$|uai|M liy MAKY COX Staff Wr-iter His second floor office in the Blocker Building overlooks Uni versity street. The traffic inches by arid students dart between cars to get to McDonald’s for lunch. This view seems unfit for the mind of the accom plished poet and critic, Paul Christensen — 1 always thought poets needed their own Walden to be able to ex press themselves. Although I suffer from somewhat of a poet miscon ception, Christensen said that some poets and writers must do certain things to get in the mood to create. He mentioned one writer who had to wash his hands in special soap several times before he could write. Christensen said he writes best in a room filled with his mind energy. What he means by this is that he seasons a room for about six months by working in it and becoming comfortable with it. The room is then his creative cocoon where he can lose himself in his work. He said he can sink into an almost trance-like state where he is not bothered by phone calls or other interrupt ions. Christensen said writers usually have themes in their writing that relate to the life they’re living at the time. “For example, I think when I was in my late thirties I began to think about changes of life and midlife crisis sorts of sub jects,” he said. “People come to grips that they’re getting older now and there’s changes within the family, within atti tudes about sex, death, and all those basic things. “You see in the mirror — it’s not going to go away. It’s not a bad day — if s a turn in your life that you can’t reverse.” Christensen said that he wants to appeal to the reader who can relate to these changes. “I do imagine I write for sort of an ideal listener who can catch every bit of humor and word play, instantly seeing my Paul Christensen says his poems are about self-confrontation and rites of passage. /\ c;/\tvii; with kcX'k liy Paul I threw the rock and watched it in the air whispering, flop’* ™me back! I saw it shudder and hang, as long as it could, against blue air, and forget for a moment it was all rock and start to fly, those dull wings rounded on its sides, the hopefulness and twinkle behind shut eyes, and a mind, slow glitter. think for a moment of escape. The upward heave of lungless breath, the grasp of no arms for a branch of sun, anything to hoist itself up to, ouf of this desolate ocean of identity, only to be stung with the dread of what it was — a rock, instead. It fell! thudding miserably through the air in which my whisper hung, don’t come back! BAR BRAWL by Paul Christensen As if pain were flowers opening in the blood; the lazy velvet petals of a bloom of hurt - the blue punched arm, swollen whorl of thigh, the aureole of black eye. When the two men were hanging in the amber air, in the gelled motion of their labors to hurt each other, the fiime of liquoiy breath so thick with enchantment, as black cold atmosphere rushed from the tavern doors, flung wide. His fist flashing like a wand dove deep to bone, rattling the opponent’s inmost skeleton. Shattered jaw, the dazed eyes surprised to be rushed up to a higher plane — pain. meaning so that he can enjoy the language experience I’m of fering him besides any sort of serious concerns I may be rais ing in a poem,” he said. Christensen’s eyes sparkle and his deep laugh lines accen tuate his happiness when he talks about his craft. He chal lenges anyone to go into the bedroom and read Faulkner out loud because of the beauty of the poetry. He said it sounds like God talking and is made to be played on an instrument. Cnristensen is not only con cerned with the art of poetry. He also has his own printing press. He said he enjoys pro duction and wants to learn off set printing one day. He proudly states that he has pub lished several books, including one of his own. Christensen realizes that po etry does not appeal to a large audience. He said the biggest audience poetry will ever hope to enjoy will be 1 in 30 people. The decline in poetry can be traced to the success of Amer ica, he said. “The whole problem is when you have a very fat and con tented populace, they don’t dream,” he said. “The stuff of dreams is what you can’t have and if poetry is the language of dreams and longings — there’s no sense in going to it.” \ are subject of symposium Matthew Arnold was an English poet and critic who lived from 1822 to 1888. His work exemplified romantic pessimism, spiritual isola tion in a time that was torn between science- and reii- The Department of En- ^ish is a sympo sium Feb. 28 fil March 1 to study this poet in depth. The lectures will be a look at his • thhe during the 19th cen trin' and how this affects present time and works of literature. ' '• f- | Registration is Thursday at 8 am in the scheduling office on the second floor of ; Rudder Tower. The cost is $12.50 per individual and payments are to be made;: mi to Matthew Arnold Sym posium. The fee entitles the participant to attend all symposium session and the banquet Friday evening. ;f" ; -!lifeFoughou| the sympo sium papers will be pre sented such as: “Arnold and Culture: the History and middle class, g Arnold s: the welfare of ■■■■■■■■■pi this life is best i mocracy vs. Culture: Mat thew Arnold, James, lord AWwiiiiii Prehistory,” “Arnold and Natural Supernaturalism,” and W A Modernist Before the Matthew Prose Writings.” He was the apostle of a restricted, ob; new culture, one that would irism — free fr< pursue perfection by know!- political and p edge and understanding of siderations. the best thoughts in the Some of the other world. He attacked the to be presen' tastes and manners of the thew Arnold 19th-century English so- ernist Image,” “Literature For more informati defy, particularfy those dis- and the Pleasure Prindple: the Department of played by the provincial An Araotdian Antidote for at 845-3451A . The Roger L Brooks Collec- Ifion of Matthew Unpubii letters a.., sive Rare Works in Evans Li :