![\"charlie-smith.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/beatrice.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/charlie-smith.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nI have been in touch lately with my inner self,
\nthe fruit picker who lived all those years in a motel.
\nI shaded my story so it proved everything I did was
\nby intention. After each love affair, each participant
\nreceived a little gift. I mean someone always said:
\nYou didn’t really love her. I speak to fewer people
\nthan ever. No matter what it looks like—I say this
\nevery chance I get—something divine is going on.
\nAnd wonder: Is it? I’d like to lose a little weight.
\nJust the same, the marriage had its good points.
\nI still can’t tell you what I am known for. I’m easily
\nshamed. On my walks I hope to meet someone interesting,
\nsomeone I have been headed toward all my life,
\nor simply someone without too much guile, a friendly
\nperson with a little intelligence. Maybe we will
\nwalk along together, talking about romance or trucks.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nWord Comix<\/i><\/a> is the seventh collection of poems by Charlie Smith, and it also includes “Illustrated Guide to Familiar American Trees<\/a>.” Published last year, it has recently come out in paperback; last fall, looking at the poems, Aaron Belz wrote<\/a>: “It sounds real. It doesn’t grasp for something interesting to talk about, a fragrant, beautiful scene to describe and ponder, or a gripping story to tell. It doesn’t get caught up in itself. Smith is at a point in his career when he can just write<\/i>.” This summer, Smith also published his first novel in more than a decade, Three Delays<\/i><\/a>, which—if it’s anything like the voice in these poems—is going to be well worth a look. I’ll have to investigate!<\/p>\n
(Oh, and I meant to mention: This collection is dedicated to Gerald Stern, who was featured last week on Beatrice<\/i> with the poem “Stepping Out of Poetry<\/a>.”)<\/p>\n
At a Bryant Park event last year, when Word Comix<\/i> was first published, Smith read “Beauty Works,” a poem from an earlier collection, Heroin<\/i>:<\/p>\n