By Ellen Hobbs
When Diane Wakoski invites you into a
poem, she asks you to take a look at the world
through her eyes, and perhaps through her
you may learn to be more compassionate and
understanding.
Wakoski, who will do a reading tonight at
7:30 in 165 Blocker, has been publishing her
works since the early 1960s. Her poems pan a
large breadth of styles, forms and ideas.
In the introduction to “Trilogy” (1980), a col
lection of three of her earliest books, she says
she writes several different kinds of poems,
and each book is an attempt at showing her
reader one kind of writing she does.
The linking of her work is apparent not only
through technique but through theme.
“Coins and Coffins” (1962), the first work in
“Trilogy," is a trip into Wakoski's stream of
consciousness. The surrealistic images spill
over into her next work, “Discrepancies and
Apparitions" (1967).
In the “Trilogy” introduction, Wakoski says,
“I believe in the use of extravagant, surrealist
imagery, like the girl riding naked on a zebra
wearing only diamonds, as a way of making
the reader accept the specialness of the feel
ings of the speaker in the poem.”
That example comes from the poem “Appa
ritions are Not Singular Occurences" from
“Discrepancies and Apparitions”:
“When I rode the zebra past your door,
wearing nothing but my diamonds, I ex
pected to hear bells
and your face behind the thin curtains.
But instead I saw you, a bird, wearing the
mask of a bird,
with all the curtains drawn, the lights blaz
ing,
and Death drinking cocktails with you."
Don’t balk, though, if sometimes difficult-to-
The Piano
The Piano
all strings contained,
remains silent,
until someone X.
plays.
The obvious. Xv
As when a white jade animal falls you ara
aware of its substance.
It rattles on the floor.
But the obvious piano is not always played.
Three more analogies are implied.
Love, the poem,
exploits them.
understand imagery frightens you away from
poetry. True to her word, these are only one
kind of poems Wakoski writes, and while many
of her poems contain surrealistic images,
many do not rely on them.
“Virtuoso Literature for Two and Four
Hands," a poem that appears in a book of the
same title (1975) and in the collection “Why
My Mother Likes Liberace” (1985), is an exam
ple of a poem that is made up of more realistic
images. In these lines, she tells the story of a
man at a party of “intellectuals and poets" who
is overcome by his own ability to play music:
“a man,
an old friend,
a writer and teacher,
sat down at the piano/he was drunk and
nostalgic,
and bending over the keys like the limbs of a
willow,
he played ‘Stella by Starlight,’
here in this company of intellectuals and po
ets,
he forgot where he was.
He forgot the rain and of evening talk,
and played as if he were in some 1940s pi
ano bar,
a song none of us knew the words to,
here in the company of intellectuals and po
ets
he played ‘Stella by Starlight'....”
In “The Collected Greed," a long poem writ
ten in many parts between 1967 and 1983,
Wakoski experiments with different forms and
the effects of form on poetry.
In many places in “Greed," Wakoski slips
out of “classic" poetic form into actual prose.
In Part 12 she includes a short play (actually a
masque) in two acts. This variation of form is
intriguing and keeps the reader moving from
one part to the next.
To those of us who are a bit intimidated by
the mysteries of poetry, Wakoski gives us a
few hints — her introductions to her collec
tions are clear and-helpful to the reader's un
derstanding and interpretation of the poems.
One reason "Why My Mother Likes Liberace"
is one of my favorite books of poetry is be
cause of the graceful and insightful preface.
Tonight's reading is sponsored by the De
partment of English and MSC Literary Arts. Go
for an introduction into the varied and exciting
world of her poetry. You're sure to find some
thing that will touch you.
— Diane Wakoski,
“Discrepancies and Apparitions"
Publisher looks to students for help with guidebook
By Lisa Young
Members of Texas A&M’s Asso
ciation of Black - Journalists are
sharpening their pencils and rolling
up their sleeves for a major project
they’re about to undertake with edu
cator and publisher Barry Beckham.
The association of black journal
ists will assist Beckham House Pub
lishers in organizing and completing
the third edition of “The Black Stu
dent's Guide to Colleges,” Beckham
says.
“I didn’t know what to expect from
college in 1962, and there are many
black students who are in the same
predicament today," Beckham says.
“At the time I entered Brown,
there were very few black students
and no black professors,” Beckham
says. “It’s important for black stu
dents to have someone they feel
comfortable talking to.”
Beckham says that students are
better able to achieve in school if
they’re mentally prepared for the so
cial and cultural changes they may
have to adapt to while in college.
"Many black students come from
segregated high schools and may
feel intimidated because of their skin
color once they get to college.”
Beckham says he knows exactly
page 4
how it feels to be a minority at a pre
dominantly white institution.
“There were approximately 450
freshmen entering Brown University
in 1962 and only six of them were
black," Beckham says. "I was one of
only three black males that grad
uated from Brown in 1966."
“The main disadvantage for black
students is that there is no commu
nication source available to them,”
Beckham said. “Black students
need information on what to expect
once they get to college.”
“The Black Student’s Guide to
Colleges” profiles various universi
ties across America Beckham says.
"It informs its readers about the col
lege's curriculum, organizations and
the number of minority students and
professors.
Surveys are sent to a wide variety
of colleges to obtain information that
will help students formulate a clear
picture of what to expect once they
get to school Beckham says.
"The schools that we profile are
segregated, non-segregated, pub
lic, private, co-ed, single-sexed,
large, small and in various geo
graphical regions," he says. “The
guide has at least one representa
tive of each type of school."
Beckham says the key to aca
demic success is largely due to psy
chological comfort.
“Many times, black students are
placed in uncomfortable situations
because of skin color,” he says.
“Black students not only have to
worry about academic pressures,
they may also have to face a hostile
environment because of their skin
color.”
Beckham says when he first pro
posed the idea of writing the black
student’s guide, the project re
ceived virtually no support and was
pushed around for several years be
fore it was finally taken seriously.
“The first edition was financially
supported by Brown University
(where I was teaching at the time)
and published by E.P. Dutton in
1982, ’’ Beckham says. “The univer
sity even implemented a group inde
pendent studies project class of
about 20 students to help research
and profile over 100 schools.”
In the early 1980s, Beckham says,
he felt it was time to write a second
guide when black students com
plained of the negative experiences
they were having on college cam
puses. Beckham says he realized
there were terrible ommissions in
publications when he had trouble
finding a company to fund and pub
lish the project.
The third edition will be different
from the first two, he says. “I plan for
the third edition to profile approxi
mately 200 schools," he says. "I plan
for the guide to have less statistics
and more input from the students
whose colleges are profiled."
Beckham would like to see more
large-scale publishing companies
owned by minorities, he says.
“Blacks are less represented in book
publishing than in any other form of
the media."
He plans for his publishing com
pany to be an outlet for black creativ
ity and expression. "I want Beckham
House to be sensitive to the needs of
the black community."
Barry Beckham and Beckham
House Publishers hope to have a
positive effect on the black commu
nity. They will not only help young
black people get into college, but
continue to help them once they’re
out as well.
February 28,1991
Sara Laughs
College music scene crowded with talent
By Rob Newberry
Music is still a very important part
of the college entertainment scene,
if this past week's National Associa
tion of Campus Activities (NACA)
National Convention in Nashville was
any indication. At the conference, I
got a chance to see a few up-and-
coming live rock acts, and picked
up lots of releases from some of the
nation’s new performers.
As for the live sets, the most en
joyable rock act at this year’s con
vention was Connecticut’s 17 Relics.
In support of their third independent
release, Water, the band performed
four songs in a 20-minute afternoon
set. 17 Relics is fronted by singer
Micheal Fitzgerald, and driven by
guitarist Alex Pellish and bassist Da
vid Bentley. Drummer Rich Freitas
does as much kick-ass work behind
the kit as I’ve seen in a while. Musi
cally, the band is a grad of the
R.E.M. musical influence school —
jangly guitars and upbeat tunes.
Fitzgerald's lyrics are heavy on the
religious allusions.
Another hot live act at NACA was
Virginia’s Waxing Poetics. Their third
release Bed Time Story on Emerge
Records is a collection of straight
forward rockers with an emphasis on
raw feeling instead of production. At
NACA, the quartet performed “Su-
gardaddy” and "Frankenstein’s
Daughter" from the record, as well
as a stirring "East O’ Jesus.” Their
set even included frontman David
Middleton tearing through a guitar
solo with his teeth.
Among the many tapes I had a
chance to listen to, Boston-based
Sara Laughs stood out most with
their two EPs, a self-titled work, and
the more recent Don't You Want Me.
acoustic-folk duo of S. Amilia White
and Jennifer Staton. These days, the
band sports drummer Chris Bule-
son, guitarist Jean-Paul Perrotte and
bassist Claire Harding. The resulting
sound falls somewhere on the rock
ier side of the Cocteau Twins, but
with more emphasis on the lyrical
side, and more towards the standard
four-piece sound characteristic of
Austin bands like the Wild Seeds
and the Reivers.
Slash Orchestra’s new CD Hypo
thetical World on Bean Creek Re
cordings is a collection of techno
rock tunes from this New York-based
duo. With former Texan Konrad Ki-
nard on bass, vocals and remote
control (the Orchestra uses a TV for
live shows), and James Lo taking
care of drums and electronics, Slash
Orchestra mixes up a lot of strange
samples and rhythmic grooves for a
head-on industrial ball.
I also picked up the latest tape
from the Virginia-based band the Bo
neshakers. The title track “Oh, So
Black” is a short acoustic number,
but most of the rest of the album falls
in the contemporary pop-metal
genre. The Boneshakers are more
geared toward the mainstream of
AOR than most of the other bands I
got to look at.
Left Exit, a six-piece band out of
Chesterfield, Virginia, had copies of
their latest, Do It Anyway. Left Exit's
style is almost funky and almost
jazzy, but slightly more mainstream
than the music of Poi Dog Ponder
ing. The music sports lots of island
sounding harmonies, as well as con
gas and marimbas, to back up synth
and horn melodies and Jim Malone's
vocals.
On the humorous side of the new
band scene is the Norfolk, Virgina,
band Left Wing Fascists. The lyrics
of songs like “I Drive A Yugo,” “K-
Mart Shopper,” “We I.D. Under 75,”
and “Bitch (You're Not Good Lookin’
Enough)” will keep you laughing
hard, but the music never suffers:
straight-ahead five-piece rock ’n’ roll
with lots of guitar and traditional rock
drum and bass rhythms. The closest
comparison I could make would be
the Dead Milkmen, but Left Wing
Fascists are definitely originals.
Funk and reggae acts were not to
be ignored at the convention, and
they're still a big influence on the
campus scene.
Megaphonics demo tape from
Cellar Door Entertainment is remi
niscent of the funk-metal bands
heating up the Texas scene like
Bouffant Jellyfish and Joe Rock-
head. Fast Lane Productions, based
in Washington, D.C., also showed
off some of their funk acts with a
compilation tape. Listen for bands
like Urban Blight, NY Citizens, Cir
cus Mind, Shockra and Chuckle
head to invade the funk airwaves
soon.
Fast Lane also handed out a cou
ple of reggae compilations. One
cassette contains U.S.-based pro
gressive and roots reggae, so ex
pect to hear from American bands
like Black Sheep, Bomb Shelter,
House of Assembly and Local Hero
if you dig U.S. reggae. The other
cassette has more international reg
gae acts such as Alpha Blondy,
Bigga and HR. Proof positive that
reggae music is still being made for
the college scene.
On the jazzier side of reggae and
funk is the U.K.’s Mad Professor.
The Professor’s new disc Science
and the Witchdoctor is a collection
of samples and tape dubs put to
gether for dance-club play, but it’s
unlikely that this album will do much
in the American club scene. The mu
sic here is too close to the reggae
side to be trendy enough for dance
clubs, but fans of reggae or dance
sounds should like the album
enough.
Syracuse, New York’s Jamie No-
tarthomas was handing out copies of
his latest self-titled solo CD. Notar-
thomas’ tunes are heavy on the emo
tional side of rock, like many other
solo singer-guitarists. Notharthomas
has a backup band for most of the
songs, and members of 10,000 Ma
niacs contribute to two of the better
tracks on the disc, “Minus One” and
"On My Own.” Notharthomas is ca
pable of some tough rock ’n’ roll, as
evidenced by songs like "Good-Bye,
Good-bye," but he also does some
nifty acoustic stuff with "Christina”
and "Hope for the World."
L.A.’s Tom Heil completes my
line-up of worthwhile acts I was intro
duced to at NACA. Heil's sound is
similar to much of the music on the
Windham Hill new-age label,- what he
terms “not jazz and not pop and not
classical, but it incorporates all of
that.” Heil’s first album, Please, is a
collection of moving solo piano
pieces, while the more recent Geo
metry has several synthesizer com
positions.
I left NACA thinking the college
music scene was a lot more
crowded than I thought it was. But
with as much good music as I came
across, I’m not sure you can get too
much of a good thing.
page 9
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