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University Daily Kansan, April 19, 1983
Entertainment
KU poet re-shapes world to see in new, fresh ways
By KATHRYN MILLER Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
The wind in the grass, says a proverb, cannot be taken into the house.
Artists aim to make reality breathe in unnatural forms, and in Michael Johnson's third book of poetry, "Familiar Stranger," the author invites us to merge his perceptions with our own experiences.
Johnson, KU professor of English, nails down images in such a way that one says, "Yes, that's it!" Johnson also instructs one in how to look at the world differently. Some day one might see a hawk swoop across the twilight sky and feel the wind playing against him, the exuberance of life hunting life, and then understand the grace of Johnson's poem, "Hawk at Twilight." Form becomes metaphor as this poem hangs balanced on the maze like the hawk in flight.
surfaces on the page like the rest. Johnson avoids obscure literary devices and banalities, and the resulting poems cleanly define those moments that tug at our hearts and take away our breath.
THE WORDS "familiar stranger" embrace several concepts, Johnson says, depending on the grammar. A familiar stranger underscores the alienation of people and illustrates how a strange person can be familiar. As a grammatical pun, though, the title takes on a new meaning. The artist's task is to take the world we know and re-shape it in such a way that familiar things become strange, and we see them more clearly.
In this collection of poems, Johnson has poked around his life and frozen moments we might recognize. Birth and death provide a framework as two fundamental experiences echo themes from his wife's pregnancy and the death of James A. "Tony" Gowen.
Gowen, a KU professor of English for many years, died in 1981. Johnson dedicates Familiar Stranger to Gowen, his "good friend and wonderful intellectual companion," and is donating profits from the book to the James A. Gowen Memorial Award. The award will be given annually to a KU graduate exhibiting in the practice and theory of English.
Split into five parts, the book's final section, An Elegy for Tony Gowen, shows Johnson grappling with the unexpected death of a dear friend, surprised by his sudden, startling removal from a tangle of friends.
THE POEMS of the first section, Familiar Stranger, are the most loosely connected. Often, the only connection is style or emotional intensity. The topics, however, range from mansions on art and architecture to family and familiar relationships, people we've never met, but know.
In "An Elegy for John Lennon," Johnson describes "the poet of the group—who took the world and gave it back—transformed," and mourns the fate of Lennon's dreams, which once placed him at the edge of society:
the wrong people are crazy how with the wrong kind of craziness
with the wrong kind of creativity.
The letter of confusion felt by, Lemon's,
adultered rays in the closing lines;
you said not to worship the dead
your words are still beyond the world.
IN "HOMAGE TO PHILIP MARLOWE" — "the tough-guy gumshoe in the loathest of every hard-backed American male" . Johnson details the desperate, futile search for truth in an unarmed the conflicting meanings each of us takes to the word.
The tangled threads-of-reality runs through several of the poems. The third section, Labor of Love, documents the pregnancy of Johnson's wife and the birth of their son. Johnson grapples with the enormity of this new being and the tangle of possibilities before him in "A Man on the Birth of His Son."
When the doctor held my child
up in the light of the world, that rising voice reed my mind like bright autumn skies skewed with infinite starting cries;
with infinite Starling crises
and vertigo blurred my eyes.
The Azure Emperor section consists of portraits of the poet as a young man. Witifully, Johnson remembers magical times with a threatening undercurrent — the strangeness of a world just becoming familiar.
In the poem, "The Azure Emperor," Johnson sings of a land "where history is just a matter of dance."
After the surprises and delights of puberty and young manhood fade, guilt and confusion creep into his memories of familiar people grown strange over time. Johnson says in the final stanza of "An Apology to Grandparents for Not Believing in Neighbors."
I only stare out the window, fearful
shadowless day; think of you never grown old and myself never grown up.
JOHNSON'S POEMS flow lyrically from one pole to another. The melancholy "Acid Rain" opens with images of "acids borne by aerosol, snow, and rainstain fall on crumbling mountains," and then shows magnificent pictures of the wildlife fed by industrial pollutants:
Ghostlike in morning light, a whistling swan
and a shrimp on a bench and hearth death
Johnson's gentle images heighten the horror and empathy one feels for the woman in "Near the Western Entrance to Angkor Thom," who "knows that outside Phnom Penh are mass torbsembled with more skeletons than she can count."
A series of poems translated from their original languages make up the Prenatal Life section. While one might doubt that the translated words retain the same nuances, Johnson's vivid images remain. In Hermann Hesse's "Transience," one hears the wind clattering over a small brown grave; and in Tu Fu's "Thoughts While Traveling at Night," the reader finds himself with the poet on a small river boat, alone, drifting, "a gull lost between the sky and earth."
Johnson will give a reading of his poetry April 27 at 8 p.m. in the Council Room of the Kansas Union.
Familiar Stranger, published by Flowerpot Mountain Press in Lawrence, sells for $6.95.
The Ohio Ballet will perform "Wings and Ales", an abstract dance with brilliant red costumes, as part of the final event in the KU Concert Series at 8 p.m. Friday in Hoch Auditorium. Tickets are $9 and $10, with discounts for students and senior citizens, and are available at the Murphy Hall Box office this week and at Hoch on Friday before the performance.
Ohio Ballet to perform Friday night
By LAUREN PETERSON
Staff Reporter
The 1862-83 KU Concert Series will end on a classical note Friday with the Ohio Ballet Company performing at 8 p.m. in Hoch Auditorium.
The 20-member company, founded and directed by Heinz Poll and based in Akron, Ohio, will perform four dances, said Pam Barr, director of marketing and public relations for the company.
The first dance, "Wings and Aires," choreographed by Poll and performed to the "Brandenburg Concerto No. 4," by Bach, is the most modern piece of the four, she said last week.
"I's pure abstract dance," she said, "with brilliant red costumes."
The 12-member cast of "Wings and Aires" includes seven women who will be clad in long, swirling, red skirts designed by the well-known costume designer, Christina Giannini, she said. The men will wear red unitards.
THE SECOND DANCE. "Designs with Strings," choreographed by John Taras, a ballet master with the New York City Ballet Company, is performed to "Trio in A Minor, Theme and Variations." By Telkovskic.
The one-act, plotless, classical ballet will feature four women and two men dressed in short black tutus and unitards trimmed in royal blue. Barr said.
"We really don't do story ballets," she said "We are a chamber interested in pure dance."
She said that Taras originally created "Designs with Strings" in 1948 for the Metropolitan Ballet Company in New York City.
"ALLEGRO BRILLANTE," the third piece, was choreographed by George Balanchine, a New York City ballet master, she said. The ballet will be performed to Teachovsky's "Concerto No. 3."
Balarchine originally created "Allegro Brillante" in 1956 for the New York City Ballet Company.
The costumes for the classical "Allegro Brillante" include pink, blue and peach chiffon knee-length dresses for the four women and chief unitards and vests for the four men.
"EXCURSIONS," a dance choreographed by Poll, is the finale.
"The interesting thing about this ballet is that the music was commissioned by Ohio Ballet." Barr said.
She said that the company commissioned Pati Pace, a well-known Ohio jazz musician who had a background in rock.
"The ball isn't really a jazzy piece," she said. "It is classical with elements of jazz."
The 14 dancers will wear black and white costumes, she said. The Ohio Ballet began as an eight-member student ensemble in 1988 at the University of Akron, she said. Under Poll direction, the company achieved professional status in 1974.
Since its inception, the company has performed in more than 115 U.S. cities.
The Russians are Coming! And we need your help.
Several KU graduates secured Soviet acceptance of the Relays Invitation and have planned this week's events. Success depends on your involvement.
Today's Activities
4:30 p.m. Greeting at Holidome
5:00-11:00 p.m. Soviet Marathon Film Festival (Hoch Auditorium)
5:00----1980 Olympic-Track and Field
5:30—"Oblomov"—Best foreign film of the Year.
8:25—"Moscow Doesn't believe in Tears" Academy Award Winner-Best foreign film-1981
7:55—1980 Olympics—Gymnastics
9:00—Appearance by Soviet Athletes (time approx)
Admission $1.50 per person. Those with souvenir buttons are admitted free.
Official Commemorative Items
Your purchase of the official Souvenir (buttons $1.50, poster $3.00) will cover many of the expenses of this visit. Several outlets on Campus have the buttons and posters. Watch for our display on campus. Thanks for your support.
Bob Swan '64 Dr. Mark Scott '70
Athletes United for Peace
Post office box 1776 Lawrence,KS 66044
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