Ants and Spiders and poems and Life

Saw on Ron Silliman's blog yesterday a reference to a review of Don Wentworth's recently published book Past All Traps, Wentworth's first published collection of poems.  The article's mention of Wentworth's "spiders yes, ants no" behavior made me smile. Because I do the exact same thing--rescue spiders and gently transport them outdoors, but stomp on ants.

 I sometimes feel guilty about this because I'm generally with Buddha on the "no harm to sentient beings" thing.  But here's the thing:  It is what it is.  And that's what the below-quoted poem addresses  (without being explicit) re: our conscious attempts to be who we think we should be, only to be reminded that we are, after all, only human:

Wentworth continues to find those moments that describe a brief truth of our existence -- whether we like it or not.

Past all traps / my shame revealed -- / September ant.

"I capture spiders and take them outdoors," says Wentworth. "But ants? I'm setting traps. And that's part of who we are, too. This isn't all about being good. It's about being."


Carl Mayfield wrote that what drew him to this book "is the poet's incredible ability to pay very close attention to his discoveries, yet not say anything." [1]  But this poet's words say a lot--the words don't merely present an idea/scene/emotion, they invite you to experience it up close (or remind you that you already have and elicit a sudden wave of understanding that has formerly eluded you).

 Don Wentworth is resident in chief over at Issa's Untidy Hut, the poetry blog for Lilliput Review..    You can order his new book there.