The Sealey Challenge, Day Thirteen: Deaf Republic

 

I first saw Ilya Kaminsky read several years ago at the Marin Poetry Center. It was an unforgettable experience. 

When I caught his reading at AWP a couple of years ago, it was just as compelling. But there is a reason this book, his second collection, has garnished so much praise. As I mentioned on a twitter post, this volume has split open something that can't be stitched closed and put away again. It is a difficult but necessary gift to the world - but especially, I would say, to Americans. A tough read but the kind of thing that changes the reader.

And on a completely different note, it was interesting to see that I have been taught by at least three of the poets Kaminsky thanks in his acknowledgements. I am not a genius, nor do I have the capacity to write a Deaf Republic. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the privilege of having those opportunities. It spurs me on to do better work.