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TEXTUAL PROPRIETIES
Deftness, pulchritude, good humor.
A rounded sound, “Bright Mississippi”
of a glassy afternoon.
Mist cannot be
“moderate”—please! How speak
of a “clean” smell?
Employment prospects for
logicians—must they be bleak?
But of course,
by definition.
A flat, curiously
archaic tone,
hip as ever,
erodes these cheery hills.
Nice to hear from you.
Poems on this page © Jonathan Mayhew 2005-2006
Jonathan Mayhew
teaches Spanish at the University of Kansas. He is the author of
Claudio Rodríguez and the Language of Poetic Vision, The Poetics of
Self-Consciousness Twentieth-Century Spanish Poetry, and numerous
scholarly articles, translations, and reviews. He has published poetry
in Alegría de los Naufragios, Black Spring and The Hat
and has work forthcoming in The Tiny.
What's your favorite poem that you've written? Care to share it with us?
My favorite poem by myself might be "Long, Narrow Poem." It hasn't
been published.
What is your favorite poem by another poet?
I don't have a single favorite poem by a living poet. One I like a
lot is "Gravel" by Barbara Guest.
What poets have had the most influence on your
work?
Kenneth Koch. I could name 40 others as well. Some poets I like a
lot haven't necessarily influenced me.
What's your pet-peeve in a poem?
My pet peeve is anything that is there in the poem just to signal
"this is a poem." It might be a word, a simile, a gesture.
What's your favorite print journal and why?
The Hat. No explanation needed. Read The Hat and you'll see
why.
Do you have a writing ritual? Care to share it?
Do you ever break this ritual for artistic reasons? If yes, how does it
change or improve your method?
I have no writing ritual.
