Jul 7 2015

Poet Republik-Brenda Coultas

The intersection of nature and technology is a place inhabited by poets. Whitman created links in his poetry between ancient religions and modern technology, Yeats questioned the worth of technological advances famously in “The Second Coming,”  and now we have Brenda Coultas and her tree. In order to see technology from a vastly different perspective think about how you would describe the world if you were a bird? a rabbit? a pampered dog? a cockroach? or whatever. Or just enjoy the beauty of this lovely poem:

My Tree

I found a pearl and wore it in my ear
Deep ocean echos sing like a seashell

A girl promised a purse filled with jewels, if I would be her friend Purses open secrets as priceless as pills in a jeweled box

Loose pearls, enough to imagine what a great loss that necklace was or was not

I like to see metal turn red and glow and to hear its hiss when it meets the water. Leather bellows, suspended from the ceiling, pump air into the fire. Long handled tongs and picks forge mostly nails. I open all the old purses. There might be change left in one.
I built you a tree of light to see by
To listen to digital libraries in your palm.
Renamed myself writing this book, renamed myself after building this tree

I burnt candles all night to grow these leaves.

I fed books to the flame, to make a blaze to read by
Mined libraries to power this tower of light

built sparkling branches
with flaming pages for leaves
dense as the weeping willow’s cascade of curls

On the mountain ridge my tree stands head and shoulders above
the hardwoods. Along the roadway wooden poles, bathed in chemicals, hold up a network of wire

I built a tree, more cell than sweeping pine or black walnut, as natural as pink pine needles or a silver mylar holiday tree. Glittery pine boughs glue-gunned on.

No needles on the floor
No forest smell

My gift is glittery and eternal
Even in synthetic shreds
dumped on a landlocked city sidewalk
it finds its way to the sea

coultas

Brenda Coultas is the author of four poetry collections, including The Tatters (Wesleyan University Press, 2014), The Marvelous Bones of Time (Coffee House Press, 2008), and A Handmade Museum (Coffee House Press, 2003).

Her honors include a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship and residencies from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Emily Harvey Foundation in Venice, Italy, and the Millay Colony for the Arts.

Comments

16 Responses to Poet Republik-Brenda Coultas
  1. faye grubb` says:

    I found this on Facebook. Debbie Rebel had posted it. Hope you are having a good summer. I will call your mother soon and catch up on things.

  2. faye grubb` says:

    Brenda, I enjoyed reading your poetry. Found it on Facebook posted by Debbie Rebel.

  3. Debby Brown says:

    I also enjoyed your poem. Very proud to know you.

  4. Madonna Reisz Bush says:

    Beautiful work, Brenda. So proud of you.

  5. J. Stewart says:

    Sad. The world they inhabit is overpopulated. They believe that their primitive technology should be valued over their planet’s natural form.

  6. Roy Garcia says:

    I see them come & go,
    They get thinner every year & better glow,
    The family sits & watches their show,
    I am a living room just chilling bro,

  7. H. Pompa-Fantozzi says:

    Longingly, I see, unused, my leash
    my water bowl, empty
    Refusing to see me
    Glowing screens illuminate concentrating faces
    I leave, unnoticed

  8. E. Zarate says:

    What is left of me is not up to me to decide what is left of me is inside what is left is not right, no matter the price I must return to my master I wish to be indulged and once more hold my head up high but, that evil screen takes him away “it,” takes away what I am after.

  9. Jazmin Maravilla says:

    MY BOY NO LONGER PLAYS WITH ME. HE SITS AND STARES AT THE SCREEN. LITTLE SCREEN, BIG SCREEN. THEYRE ALL BRIGHT. IM NOT ALRIGHT .

  10. M. Sullivan says:

    Hello there, giant man.
    You look so warm in your home.
    And as I hoot in our tree,
    I wonder what we’ll be
    The day when we’re without these

  11. R. Bouquet says:

    High above the world I see all.
    Their progress forms scars on the world. They cannot see the damage they have done. Nothing will be the same.

  12. C Triano says:

    I am flying in the sky, looking down at all the strange things.

    Buildings, cars, people hurrying around. So loud, confusing.

    My wings are gliding. I am happy I’m up here!

  13. A Williamson says:

    From one spot I watch them go
    all about, to and fro
    they hop, skip,and talk
    even trees
    with beautiful leaves
    are jealous of those that walk

  14. JBernal says:

    I love freedom yet I yearn for warmth. New adventures thrill my soul yet I love my cozy home. The sun and moon guide me through my journeys

  15. K. Aguilar says:

    My jacket ready for the cold

    not before the rake in

    the yard diminishes

    the orange leaves of fall

    as the maple trees accumulate

    but not before the

    long green vines swirl around

    spring air before all

    bright salt pigmented air

    each season before next

    abduction of seasons

    as we wait till next year.

  16. F Aquino Hernandez says:

    You have a temper

    My sweet maple boy

    Simmer down baby

    Wrangle up your toys

    All things will be fine

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