If you see Jeanine Walker swerving on the road, she hasnยt been drinking ย sheยs been thinking. ยPoet on board: careful,ย she says, laughing (hey, that would make a great bumper sticker). The local poet, whoยs about to earn her doctorate from the University of Houstonยs creative writing program, says her poems often start while sheยs on the road. ยIยll be driving around, and Iยll think of something,ย she says. Other times she gets ideas in safer locations, like behind a book. ยI Become a Nest,ย one of the works sheยll be reading today as part of the Gulf Coast Reading Series, was inspired by the phrase ยOne must have a mindย from poet Wallace Stevensยs ยThe Snowman.ย From there, she developed her own verses, which explore optimism through a vision of a housewife gathering shadows in her apron like eggs.
Another poem, ยForgiveness Is a Curse,ย was inspired by an offhand comment by one of Walkerยs fellow doctoral candidates. She tried to humorously interpret the phrase in her first draft but then decided to take it more seriously. ยI looked at it and thought, ยI could go a lot deeper with this,ย instead of just saying, ยOh, forgiveness is a plague ย ha ha ha,ยย she says. The new poem considers the idea in the context of a bad relationship. ยWeยre going to forgive people sometimes because itยs easier for us to stay in that spot than move forward and grow,ย Walker says. ยIn that sense, it can plague us and not be good for us to forgive.ย The day will also include readings by Chuck Carlise and David Lombardi. 7 p.m. Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet. For information, call 713ย523ย0701 or visit brazos.booksense.com. Free.
Fri., Jan. 18, 7 p.m., 2008
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2008.