Sherry Chandler » Tom C. Hunley
Tom C. Hunley
Tom Hunley teaches writing at Western and publishes Steel Toe Books . If I understand it right, Steel Toe publishes one poetry collection a year. This year’s book by Jennifer Gresham has been delayed (Tom will let me know when it’s available, I hope), but last year’s excellent Einstein Considers a Sand Dune by Stephen Doyle is worth your attention.
Tom’s own collection, Still, There’s a Glimmer , is available from WordTech Editions of Cincinnati.
Although I first met Tom last year at the Kentucky Writers Conference, I first encountered one of his poems at Gumball Poetry for spring 2000, here. This issue was called Heavy Metal , an odd place to find this graceful dancing poem. Here’s what I said in my comments then: “The language flows nicely off the tongue and it is original language. …Each issue of Gumball Poetry has one poem that delights me. This one is it for Spring 2000. It is exactly the kind of poem I’d like to find in a Gumball capsule.” Here is that poem:
First you have to make the oranges.
To do that you must become
an orange tree, which means moving
to Florida or Southern California.
If you go to San Diego, the beach
will beckon you, with its bikinis
and its waves, and you will feel the temptation
to take up surfing, which would get in the way
of becoming an orange tree. Stay focused
on your goals. Visualize all things orange:
carrots bursting from the ground,
a field of poppies blossoming all
at once, like some unplanned party,
a haunted house peopled by jack-o-lanterns.
Eat only the orange M&Ms
in each packet. Make friends only
with redheads. Concentrate entirely
on orange juice, which is not the same
as buying orange juice made from concentrate.
Stop looking for the easy way.
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