Poetry and Memoir: Finding Home in the Overlap of Memory and Verse

First, there's the poem:

HOUSE OF MIRTH

(1st Version)

"What is it worth, 

this house of mirth

when at the door 

life comes no more

and silence rings 

and ears do sting,

The bell, they do abhor?"

~S. A. McNutt.

Then there's the memory that surrounds the poem.

It is my husband's favorite poem. He'd quote it back to me. Did I write it in our first Colorado apartment? In a notebook? What about all the times I struggled to figure out the second stanza?

When I read my poetry, I am reading my history. It's one and the same. It's not some fiction I've created. It's a heartbeat. Mine.

There's a lyrical nature to life. And poetry tunes us into those experiences.

Every week, my friends, four of us, would meet at our favorite coffee shop, Stella's on Pearl Street in Denver. We'd catch up on each other's week. But if I say, catch up, I mean philosophically, practically, and emotionally. It was our story hour.

On this particular night. My friend recounted a date she had. The next week, I showed up with a version of the poem "Raven Haired" (published in Lamplighter Poems). "Crescent moon eyes / waxed in disbelief." (S.A. McNutt)

What does that line tell you? It was night. She was surprised. Why? Because he had kissed her, and only then did she realize it was a date.

This poem stands as a testament to her recounting, to our weekly coffee conversations, and my imagination in capturing the moment in a poem. It's something I will have forever; a time capsule of memory.

Isn't that what a Memoir is? A Time Capsule?

Where Poetry and Memoir Meet

In Michael's book, when I started editing and formatting, I Am From Idaho, I remember reading over the Prologue section several times. There's this idea in it about home. Or more specifically, being from a specific place.

Only when I left the state of Idaho, and people found out where I was from, did I realize how different life was in my home state. (Michael K. Edwards).

He goes on to explain how little others knew of his state, or knew it at all. Those challenges led to the apology, the embarrassment of being from a place no one understood. It wasn't cool like California.

Could you explain to the Michael of yesterday that those same cool Californians would be moving to his state in the early 2020s?

His book reconciles the self to the home state. Why? Well, your history is there. Your story begins there, and every thread of every story you will write after.

You can't help where you were born. And as a Minnesota girl, I've recently felt more apologetic of late.

There would be no memoir without the place, the people, and the self. There would be no poetry. It's interesting, but both my poetry book and Michael's memoir are doing the same things. We are reconciling the home of our hearts.

Wherever I Am, I Am Home.

King Ari Press is home to our authors, Michael, Mary, Tony, and me. I hope to welcome more home in the future.

All of our stories overlap, like our lives. We pick up a story where another left off. We write a poem to capture the moment in a heartbeat of time. Like I Am From Idaho, this journey is a memoir of our brief time on earth.

Thank you so much for being our readers and making our stories part of yours!

Remember: Together we can rekindle the nostalgic joy of reading!

~ Stephanie

KAP KingAriPress

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