LOCAL POET REACTS TO SEPT. 11 WORK CONTRIBUTED TO BOOK.Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer GLENDALE - For a poet, pain and sorrow can invoke inspiration rather than despair. So in the days and weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the words began to flow. And three weeks later, Glendale Community College Glendale Community College can refer to one of two colleges in the United States.
``That day felt like when President John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in was assassinated as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. ,'' said Edelman, a published poet who also does readings around Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . ``JFK's death has never been fully explored. In some ways, those feelings were revisited on Sept. 11.'' It took a few weeks for Edelman to write ``Coat of Sorrow,'' which editor and poet William Heyen William Helmuth Heyen (born November 1, 1940) is an American poet, editor, and literary critic. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Suffolk County. He received a BA from the State University of New York at Brockport; he earned a doctorate in English from Ohio is adding to more than 100 works in an anthology titled ``September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond,'' to be published this summer by Etruscan Press. The collection includes essays, letters, poems and short stories by such notables as Pulitzer Prize winners W.S. Merwin, Henry Taylor and John Updike and best-selling authors Erica Jong, Maxine Hong Kingston Maxine Hong Kingston (湯婷婷; born October 27 1940) is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley where she graduated with a BA in English in 1962. She is also a prolific academic and writer. , Ishmael Reed, Naomi Shihab Nye and Tess Gallagher. ``We've not had a collection in which poets and other creative writers respond so soon to an event,'' Heyen said in a printed statement. ``Writers usually need to let some time go by, but in this case, as many of the contributors say, our whole world, even the world of writing, has changed. I wanted to catch that passionate change right now.'' In his poem, Edelman expresses how the tragedy of that day will forever be etched on the mind of every American and how sadness will drape drape v. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds. n. A cloth arranged over a patient's body during an examination or treatment or during surgery, designed to provide a sterile field around the area. each one as if it were a cloak that cannot be shed. Born and raised in New Jersey, Edelman, 50, earned degrees from Hofstra University in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of before moving to California. As an English professor at Glendale Community College, he has published four books of poetry, including his latest ``The Gentle Man.'' He also edits a literary journal called ``Eclipse'' and has won numerous grants and fellowships from the U.S. Department of Education and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Overview As of 2006, the LBJ School has 312 students and 39 faculty members. The LBJ School offers "professional training in public policy analysis and administration for students interested in pursuing careers in government and public affairs-related areas of the private and at the University of Texas, Austin, to conduct literary research in India, Egypt, Nigeria and Poland. Like many in Southern California, Edelman was awakened Sept. 11 by the news that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. He said he plans to visit New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. again soon but doesn't know what he will feel when he sees that the Twin Towers are gone. For many who grew up in or around New York, the towers were like beacons, marking the entrance to one of the greatest cities in the world, Edelman said. ``I remember ... going to the Windows of the World and looking out and seeing this larger-than-life view of this larger-than-life city,'' Edelman said. ``The sorrow goes deeper to me than anything clinical or mental. It's like a cloak that's weighing me down by what's happened. That's why it will be really interesting when I go back.'' ``Coat of Sorrow'' And so it is that rage Remains incomplete In the beds where we sleep Week after week, unable To keep the pace Of life steady, the dream Alive and ready for what peril Faces a nation in grief Impotent to speak its peace Except in whispered words Which seek to explain how rubble And twisted steel weaken The faith we swore to follow. We walk the crooked streets In this arrhythmic ar·rhyth·mic adj. Lacking rhythm or regularity of rhythm. city, Watchful of a sky Whose clouds billow and swell - Ominous towers of smoke Stacked high to blow us From here to kingdom come At a moment's notice, Until we turn our backs And beat a slow retreat home To visit empty rooms Where yesterday's clothes hung, Long before they vanished And left us wearing nothing But a coat of sorrow. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Glendale professor Bart Edelman contributed a poem to a book on American creative writers' reaction to Sept. 11. John McCoy/Staff Photographer Box: Coat of Sorrow (see text) |
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