Raven: poems

By John Smelcer

In the mythologies of cultures worldwide, Raven, or his smaller cousin, Crow, is often portrayed as an ever-selfish, ever-hungry trickster and destroyer. In this collection, John Smelcer has crafted Raven as all these things, but also as an Instigator who was present at key moments of human history when things went awry. This is the collection that Hughes considered to be the American cousin to his Crow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leapfrog Press
• Release date: Jul 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781948585101

John Smelcer

JOHN SMELCER is the author of many nonfiction and poetry books for adults, as well as a young adult novel, The Trap. Mr. Smelcer has been a visiting professor at various universities around the world and is the associate publisher and poetry editor of the literary magazine Rosebud.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

Some of the poems in this collection first appeared in the following periodicals:

88: A Journal of Contemporary American Poetry, Anvil & Lyre, Appalachia, Asymptote (Hong Kong), Beloit Poetry Journal, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Chariton Review, Circumference, Common Review, Confluence, Crossborder, Cumberland Poetry Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, International Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, Natural Bridge, North American Review, Pacific Poetry (Vancouver), Pembroke, Prairie Schooner, Ragazine, Rosebud, Runes, Truth and Consequence, Cultural Survival Quarterly, Witness, The Seventh Quarry (UK), Modern Poetry in Translation (UK), Agenda (UK), Bombay Gin, Orbis (UK), Shabdaguchha and Poetry Ireland Review.

After a Sermon at the Church of Infinite Confusion was a finalist for the North American Review’s James Hearst Poetry Prize and appeared in Indian Giver and Native American Classics. The Birth of Raven was a finalist for the Marlboro Poetry Prize. After a Sermon at the Church of Infinite Confusion and Returning the Gift appeared in Without Reservation (Truman State UP, 2003). The Meal appeared in Songs from an Outcast (UCLA, 2000). Returning the Gift appeared in Durable Breath: Contemporary Native American Poetry (1995). Several poems appeared in Lost Rivers and in Raven Speaks, a chapbook published by Ted Hughes in 1997. All bilingual poems appeared in Beautiful Words: The Complete Ahtna Poems (Truman State UP, 2011). An excerpt appeared in Plath Profiles (UK).

The author thanks Ted, Nick, and Frieda Hughes, Carol Orchard Hughes, Emma Cheshire, Bard Young, Catherine Creger, Gary Snyder, David and Helen Constantine, Daniel Weissbort, Valentina Polukhina, Lisa Graziano, Joe Weil, Stanley Kunitz, Ruth and Phoebe Stone, Molly Peacock, Parkman Howe, Aeronwy Thomas, Carole Baldock, Amber Johnson, Abby Letner, Christy Frushour, Larry Vienneau, Don DeMauro, and the estate of Leonard Baskin. This book was supported in part by grants from the Alaska State Council for the Arts, the Alaska Community Foundation, The Elihu Foundation, the Ray and Maxine Stephens Memorial Fund, and Binghamton University’s Francis Newman Grant.

Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Crow, Raven, And The Hughes-Plath Family Tree 13

The Unlikely History Of The Art Of Raven 20

Mythopoetica

The Birth Of Raven 27

Ravencolor 28

Raven’s Song Of Himself 29

A Lingering Doubt 30

The Day After Saturday 31

Creation Myth 32

Raven And The First People 33

Raven’s Theology 34

When God Tried To Teach Raven To Speak 35

When God Tried To Teach Raven Mathematics 36

When God Tried To Teach Raven Compassion 37

Raven Remembers (To The World’s Dismay) 38

What Raven Had For Breakfast 39

The Temptation Of Eve 40

The Mark Of Cain 41

God Apologizes For The Flood

(Raven Seizes An Opportunity) 42

Raven Fly Trap 43

Exodus Raven 44

The Other Temptation Of Christ 45

Passover, 33 A.d. 46

Golgotha 47

The Substitute 48

Beowraven 49

Raven’s Vision 50

Raven Sends Out A Search Party 52

Raven’s Hit List 53

Raven Remodels The World 54

Extinction Theory 55

Raven And Killer Whale 56

The Dog Husband 57

When Raven Tried Benevolence 58

Raven, The Problem Solver