On Returning from Pittsburgh
Some pictures, some verse
Spent the whole of last week in Pittsburgh. I was in town for an event at CMU and had the chance to play music on the last evening of my trip. Took Rigby — the world’s greatest two-year old Blue Heeler Mix — with me and we stayed in Shadyside within walking distance of the campus.
I’ve a little familiarity with Pittsburgh. My daughter attended Chatham University for a semester before transferring out to the architecture program at UMD. Chatham is a small liberal arts college right near CMU. And it was while on last week’s trip that I read that among the collection of buildings on its campus is the childhood home of the poet and publisher James Laughlin.
I’ve always liked Laughlin’s poetry — in part because it calls so much attention to itself vis-a-vis form. He’s a master of enjambment, and there are some choice examples in his great poem Easter in Pittsburgh. My favorite being:
butcher I asked Uncle Robert what were sacred studies he said he was not really sure but he guessed they came in a bottle and mother sent
Though known primarily as the publisher of New Directions press, he was an elegant and sometimes playful poet in his own right. Check out the entirety of the above clip over on the Poetry Foundation site. And enjoy below a few of the photographs I took along my walks.
Additionally, just some housekeeping. This coming Friday is the release day for the debut Grave Domain album (you can preview the whole thing early on Bandcamp). I’m hoping to write some posts this week describing things and events related to the writing and recording. I posted one such piece — about the ghost hunting trip that inspired the lead-off track — earlier this month. More to come.