a poem is a mere cholla needle
embedded deep through skin
when withdrawn the scar lengthens
and the pain worsens
time heals the pain
the scar remains forever
- r soos
"Your poetry doesn't really need a classification as it stands by itself." - Karen O'Leary, editor of Whispers
"Beautiful and incisive commentary on man's deepest questions and yearning for the ultimate answers" - Neal Beightol, poet
"r soos is an acute observer of the worlds he comes in contact with. He translates both his inner and outer world with equal grace and fluency. His poems soar into a soulful playground and swing across the page visiting subjects and returning, then off again a bit higher visiting a new thought. Later he is caught swinging back to a vivid recalling of a thought or incident worth reporting on. His "Selected Poems" is a powerful, intelligent selection from 50 years of work." - Antony Paulson, editor of Poetry Review
about this book
When giving a reading in front of folks I needed a larger print version of my books for several reasons - first of the major reasons is the preference in some venues for subdued lighting (largely because lighting costs money, and poetry is notorious for not being surrounded by that entity) - and second, of course, my aging eyes. A more minor, but equally important reason was simply trying to juggle a whole stack of little books at the same time. Very boring, and to some even pretentious.
Each time a new book came out, I would take it to a Xerox shop and have them enlarge the pages 150%, hole punch them, and then place them in a big blue binder. My thought is, a poet giving a reading is a performer, and as a performer my major contribution to the evening is to keep the audience happy. So, if someone called out for me to read one of my obscure poems (one I had simply not thought of for awhile) from one of my older books, I would have it handy.
At readings recently I've been asked when I was going to put out a "collected poems" book. In 2015 'selected poems' came out, and I had felt that's all anyone would ever need; so I would joke around - I'm not dead yet. When talking with one of my editors the same subject came up, but I was able to deflect because I had several more books I was working on.
More recently at a reading a person came up to speak with me after the reading and I had left the big blue binder open to the last poem I had read. While speaking with me she happened to glance over to the binder still open on the podium and gasped - "I love it - I can see the words without straining Can you give me a copy of that?" Back to my editor to share the conversation; and the big blue binder is now the big blue book.
So, if you ever think twice about approaching a performer at a poetry reading, just remember that they are learning from everyone they meet, so why not learn from you? - r soos