Sherry Chandler » Joe Survant
Joe Survant
Joe Survant has been Poet Laureate of Kentucky for the last two years. He’s worked hard at to fulfill the duties of the office, which the Kentucky Arts Council state as “promoting the literary arts in Kentucky through readings and/or public presentations…” Joe has travelled hither and thither throughout the state, doing just that – as do all our poets laureate (see a list here). The stipend is not large and, in Joe’s case, I think it was eaten up by expenses in the first year.
Joe’s tenure as laureate ended yesterday, and I can imagine that he’ll be looking forward to the quiet so he can get some writing done. But he will still be active reading around the state. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, you can hear him read from Rafting Rise (University Press of Florida, 2002), at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort. Rafting Rise deals with the lives of log rafters and flood plain dwellers on the Rough and Green Rivers in Kentucky in 1916 and 1917. The current exhibit at the History Center is “A River Runs Through Us” (through December 2005). “Bill with Horses on Jennings Creek” is from Rafting Rise.
Bill with Horses on Jennings Creek
They stand
at the far end
of the field, just
up from the creek
where Johnson grass
grows shoulder high
and cool air
flows up
from the water.
The black sees me
first. He shakes
his head. The mares
neigh welcomes.
They trot, then
gallop, now run
toward me. I want
to speak. They
clench and unclench
like great fists.
They ripple with light
as they come from the shade.
I envy their strong
impossible bodies.
The air is filled
with their greetings.
I want to answer,
but how to speak
and what to say?
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