What are numbers, anyway? John Knoepfle, one of Illinois’ most esteemed poets, has a big birthday coming up Tuesday. Not that big. His age is still well inside the two-digit range. But it is the kind of birthday that sounds a bit better on a bottle of scotch than on a writer of poetry.
The thing is, Knoepfle’s wit is quick as ever. And with the wisdom of his
age (he’s turning 80, OK?), he seems to be using the free time afforded by retirement
not to write more, but to write less. Pushing the envelope of brevity, he is
refining his writing, distilling his poems down to bare essence.
Take, for example, the poem he wrote about the immense tragedy of 9/11. Knoepfle
used the Arabic word houris (the beautiful maidens the hijackers believed
would entertain them in paradise) to rebuke and denounce the terrorists with
a single, stinging line:
9/11
the houris will hate you
“I try not to overwrite,” Knoepfle says.
A former poet in residence and professor of English, folk literature, creative
writing, and “stuff like that” at what is now the University of Illinois at
Springfield, Knoepfle has published several books, been the subject of a documentary
film, and collected a plethora of awards, including Illinois Author of the Year
(1986), the Illinois Center for the Book Literary Heritage Award (1995), and
the Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Contributions to Midwestern Literature
(1986).
In the past, he has drawn inspiration from sources as idyllic as the Sangamon
River, his journeys to Ireland, and stories from Native American tribes. These
days, his source of inspiration is no less spiritual, but it’s delivered to
him the modern way, via the Internet. Knoepfle logs on each morning to a Dublin-based
Web site operated by Jesuit priests who display a different picture and scripture
for meditation every day. Knoepfle uses the image to write a poem.
“That’s been reasonably successful, in that I get something down every day,”
he says. “At that rate, I could do 365 poems in a year, and maybe 20 would be
good.”
While online, he also occasionally checks the poetry gossip. “I punch myself
up and see who’s attacking me. One girl wrote: ‘After a Knoepfle, anything would
be an improvement,’ ” he chuckles.
Knoepfle plans to celebrate his actual birthday quietly, with family, although
his wife Peg is planning a larger party later next week. Knoepfle says he has
no health complaints aside from an arhythmic heart. “Peg and I, on a good morning,
will go up to White Oaks and walk three miles,” he says. The main change that
has come with age is surer vision, Knoepfle says.
“I have a sense of what I want to do,” he says. “Where I’m different is, I’m
not so interested in sending things out anymore. You don’t want to sit around
and wait six months for someone to decide whether or not to publish a poem.”
Knoepfle has agreed to share with Illinois Times readers one brief
poem per issue. Look for his composition next to the table of contents.
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2003.
