The Making of The Comfort of Potatoes
A Book of Poems by Janice Dabney
Published by Dutch Poet Press | October 2015
To convey the sense of what the author's poems evoke, the design and construction of the book called for giving it the look and feel — the hands-on tactile feel — of the potato in the choice of papers, colors, and typography.
The cover stock is Kraft-Tone Paper Bag from the French Paper Company. For the inside pages, we used a heavier than usual text weight of Strathmore Pastelle with deckled edges. It’s fun to think of the potato poems sitting inside a paper bag.
The fun continues with the display type, Iowan Old Style, the kind of lettering the type designer and sign painter John Downer considers perfect for grocery store signage and other uses. Just right for directing attention to this special produce item, the humble, yet remarkable potato Janice portrays so compellingly in her poems.
One can also take delight with a wink and a chuckle at the designer applying a down-home sense and purpose to the traditional Venetian letterform, with a measure of irony.
Just how old is this “Old Style”?
Knowing that Downer lives and works in Iowa City, Iowa reminds me of Grant Wood, another artist in residence who paid tribute to the region in his work eliciting a knowing wink and chuckle.
Think American Gothic with its leitmotif of European artistic tradition brought into the heartland. You gonna love it!
--- Robert Perry
so much depends
upon
Remco Campert
dutch poet
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VAN DER HELSTLAAN 16
Dog barks at the moon
In the attic room I hear
my nickname called
from downstairs
Children play in the summer
a sailor stands on the carpet
cops chase the robber
Morning arrives
I return to the table
by the large window
the blank page
before me
by Robert Perry
Bedankt Remco!
Ten Thousand Things | Poem of Appreciation
for Kent Manske, friend and teacher of book arts
FOUR SEASONS | English Translation by Robert Perry
Summer
Butter melts in the cupboard.
Sand covers hall and carpet.
Autumn
The gutter is full.
A stack of bricks sits in the yard.
Up in the attic an empty bed.
Winter
Dame Blanche without lust.
Spring
Ginger, our reward.
by Robert Perry
IN A MIST | English Translation by Robert Perry
Title of a composition of Bix Biederbecke
1
In the house that was not mine
with the woman who was once mine
the piano that nobody could play
and the bill that nobody could pay …
house of mist
woman of mist
words of mist
love of mist
in a mist
2
The night was never so black
the earth never so uncertain
behind my ribs is stuck a shard of grief,
Who made the roads impassable?
Yes, I know it well, you say
I did it, the hater of roads.
with a hand full of wounded love
with a head full of biting pain
with a heart full of blood drying black
3
In a mist I have walked for many years now
in a mist of words and gestures
in a mist of pain and uncertainty
one day I will disappear in a mist of no feeling.
4
Come, let’s drink a lot of whiskey
out of a glass or out of the bottle
as long as it reaches our stomachs
Let’s go to the train tracks on the dike
and listen to the rails
where danger comes our way.
Hear our dangerous ears
banging on the nervous metal.
The night was never so black.
by Remco Campert
IN A MIST
Titel van een compositie van Bix Biederbecke
1
In het huis dat het mijnde niet was
met de vrouw die de mijnde eens was
de piano die niemand spelen kon
en de rekening die niemand betalen kon…
huis van mist
vrouw van mist
woorden van mist
liefde van mist
in een mist
2
De nacht was nog nooit zo zwart
de aarde nooit zo onzeker
Achter mijn ribben steekt een scherf van verdriet,
Wie maakte de wegen onbegaanbaar?
Ja ik weet het wel je zegt
ik heb het gedaan de hater van wegen.
met een hand vol woedende liefde
met een hoofd vol bijtende pijn
met een hart vol zwartworddendend bloed
3
In een mist loop ik nu al jaren
in een mist van woorden en gebaren
in een mist van pijn en onzekerheid
eens zal ik verdwijnen in een mist van gevoelloosheid.
4
Kom laten we veel whisky drinken
uit een glas of uit de fles
als het maar in de maag komt,
En laten we dan naar de spoordijk gaan
en luisteren aan de rails
waar het gevaar naar toe gaat.
Hoor onze gevaarlijke oren
bonzen op het nerveuze metaal.
De nacht was nog nooit zo zwart.
door Remco Campert
bij hoog en bij laag, Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1966
Poem inspired by the Tao Te Ching—printed on cloth by the poet Robert Perry and given to Kent for his extraordinary teaching. Kent put the banner up in his studio and shared these words about his gift:
Your words encourage, an aid my permission, to wander freely. To gather, to question, to sort, to clarify, to define and to just be without the weight of impositions, intruders and distractors seeking other than my own unknown destination.
O River | New Poem by Robert Perry
O RIVER
O river I am
swept by tears
drown in
the music of
forgiveness
I grasp the drape
not the spear
I cannot live
forever
except in the
light
among shadows
of burnt umber
and the river
O river I am
swept by tears
there is
a good place
or no place
Poem inspired by Saul and David painted by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1652. (Mauritshuis,
The Hague)
In Memoriam: Zbigniew Novak (1924 – 2013)
Poem by Robert Perry
Dutch Poet Press © 2015
All Rights Reserved.