sublime begets sublime

w s merwin the great american poet was on charlie rose the other night reading from his new pulitzer prize winning book, shadow of sirius. he was always a beautiful man and age has not changed that. likewise he was always a lovely writer and the years have not changed that either. the first line of the first poem of his new book was taken from the first line of the first poem of my book from the eighties, flowers of ecstasy. in fact the entire first poem is after the first poem from my book... so wonderful to be that highly regarded by one of americas greatest living poets. i am honored.

the reading was truthful and clear and the dialogue was interesting. much of what merwin said to charlie rose replayed our rare and intoxicating late night conversations in my garden, bottle of wine and crackers not withstanding. it is a delight to speak with someone who actually has original thoughts, something worth saying. you see many of the ideas from our conversations (which are repeated in that interview with charlie rose) in my book, eating god. we have been a great influence on each other.

those conversations on the birth of art/poetry/music are reflected in my new series of paintings, jazz poems. the paintings are meditations on the physics of creativity... sublime begets sublime.

to see my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com