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In
tribute to
an authentic
friend of
poetry, the
Steiny Road
Poet hereby
offers this
portrait. An
original
member of
ModPo, John
Knight,
recently
ascended The
Carriage
Emily
Dickinson
wrote about
in her poem
“Because
I could not
stop for
Death.”
Modpo is the
Coursera
MOOC Modern
&
Contemporary
American
Poetry
founded and
run annually
since 2012
by
University
of
Pennsylvania
professor Al
Filreis.
Here is
Dickinson’s
poem:
Because I could not stop for Death – (479)
Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –
Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –
Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –
John, an active 83-year-old who reveled in writing essays on Dickinson’s
poems for ModPo, died March 6, 2024. He was a supporting member of a
reading group that formed in association with ModPo. Often this in-person
group would do its own discussions of poems featured that week in the 10
-week online ModPo curriculum. More interesting was that originally John
and others, including Steiny, would show up at Washington, DC’s Politics &
Prose Bookstore, commandeer a long table sandwiched between
bookshelves, and start discussing poems that had been copied in advance
of the weekly Saturday morning session. Anyone who queried, “What’s
going on” would be invited to join. John advocated for no boundaries. The
meetings were a Sit In for the love of poetry.
Before Covid struck he and another member usually made an annual road
trip to Philadelphia to attend a ModPo Live session where John was often
seen on camera so that his comments could be heard by the entire ModPo
community. After Covid, the group, which Steiny began calling the Poetry
Think Tank, migrated to Zoom. John fully embraced the platform and soon
he was inviting others. Some of his invitees came from China, from a local
university where he liked to take courses, and from a psychiatric
community of specialists where he made new friends.
While ModPo pivots on the work of Gertrude Stein as it builds a bridge
from Dickinson and Walt Whitman to contemporary poets like Rae
Armantrout, Joan Retallack, Caroline Bergvall, and Charles Bernstein,
John Knight loved to play gadfly and question what the contemporary
poets were up to and whether these poets met his standards for poetry.
Still John, who was a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), was a
patient listener. His friends at the Poetry Think Tank will miss him. In his
memory, Steiny offers this love poem from her book how we hold on:
the relevance of mint
by Karren L. Alenier
I breathe mint
from his garden preferring rose
hips and lemon verbena my lover grows
peppermint and spearmint for my tea
generously
today I snip stalks and share
the aromatic feast with Jonathan and Beverley the new
parents of Johnny born eighteen days into June
anniversary of Etta’s birth the grandmother I lost
during my first trip abroad
much later at a table detailed
with red rose petals I savored the ceremony of Moroccan
mint tea but I fell in love with mint while I carried my son
Ivan his name is John too but in Russian I called my Russian
grandfather Honey because my mom’s mom Etta summoned
her husband Sol no matter his mistresses in that sweet way
the Lord is gracious and so it is that Johnny Jonathan Ivan
Hank Hans Ian Jack Jean Johan Juan Sean Shane Vanya
and Zane all mean John the Lord is gracious
I breathe mint
and mix honey into the tea I brew from the leaves my sweetheart
grew in his garden these fragrant leaves that sing he loves me
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