UCLA Journal of Radiation Oncology Fall and Winter 2022 - Flipbook - Page 21
Credit: Ravi Pinis
UCLA RADIATION ONCOLOGY JOURNAL
Ecstatic moments juxtapose pensive
decisions; the man who could have as easily
become a Hell’s Angel as a poet reckons with
the brush pile he is suddenly incapable of
burning for fear of destroying the summer
homes birds and rabbits have built (“Tracks”),
wonders if his father is visiting in the form
of a woodchuck who has taken up residence
in under his father’s old shop (“Woodchuck
Love”), and contemplates the “muses” who
visit with the gift of words (“Why I Ain’t
Buying Into the Word Inspiration”).
even once the book is set down, he says, “I
could not have hoped for a more profound
metaphor from a reader, in light of the
poems having beckoned me, the channeler,
to effect just that aspect of their character,
their sentiments.”
In the title poem of his new book, “Going
It Alone,” we can imagine him again in the
Monte Carlo, “peering into this macro-lens /
windshield” as he contemplates the chosen
modes of transport for both Amelia Earhart
on her infamous journey and his graduate
school mentor, Richard Hugo, on his poetic
journey. Zarzyski’s line breaks are precise,
intentional; each line takes on greater weight
and may be read into to discover deeper
meaning. More emotional—and sometimes
confessional—statements appear, such
as “why I never again will thrive” and “I
embrace the wild” and “of the gods, I, in
solo flight,” and are meant to be read with
and without the context of full sentences.
Line breaks and the right-hand margin
may be what sets poetry apart from prose,
but it is powerful imagery within each line
that leaves even poets in awe. The poem
ends, “one disappearing soul can hold.” Yes.
And his readers hope Zarzyski’s soul holds
steady, despite aging (or being in the act of
disappearing), for another round or two of
poems. ☐
In Greek mythology, the Muses were
goddesses who poets and artists invoked in
order to create. Some believed there were
three; others believed in nine with each
overseeing an individual focus within the
arts (Calliope, Erato, and Polyhymnia were
said to grace poets). The modernized concept
of a Muse or Muses tends to refer to the
“inspiration” that a creator channels while
crafting their work, but invocation remains
at the core for many creators. Zarzyski does
not believe in writer’s block or inspiration,
but rather “that all power be turned over to
them.”
While Zarzyski speaks of his Muses with
awe and appreciation, and while he sees
himself as a portal through which their gifts
are channeled, he also refers to poetry and
the earth as feminine entities. Readers be
remiss if they do not include language and
nature as at least something akin to Muses,
as breathing life into the world. Too, there
are the ghosts of those who were loved
and beloved, human and horse, who come
alive again on the page. It is no wonder
that his poems take up residence in the
minds of his readers, the imagery his words
conjure lingering or combining with our
own experiences, so magnificently and
unbearably human.
Going It Alone (BWangtail Press, 2022)
https://www.paulzarzyski.com
Contributed by: Ciara Shuttleworth
Ciara Shuttleworth is an alumnus of the prestigious San Francisco
Art Institute. She has worked for three prominent San Francisco
fine art galleries. Additionally, she has provided art consulting
for private and corporate collections, including Google. She is
also a published writer with works in the Norton Introduction to
Literature and The New Yorker. Her most recent book is the poetry
collection, Rabbit Heart.
When I tell Zarzyski that Going It Alone sings
with light, dances with nuance and shadow,
and the poems lift from the page to echo
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