I imagine few turn to poetry when their work sucks. Poetry may feel like a bonanza of flowers or a fleet of bubbles when faced with a low-wage or their grate-to-the face feeling of job search. But what if we let more poetry inform our work lives? To help understand our modern systems of work? Even in a world where poets themselves usually need to find a creative way to get funded, or have an alternative practice altogether.
This is why I wanted to talk to the wonderful poet Bob Hicok who has released his latest collection of poetry earlier this year. In it are poems that directly take on the the theme of work. Such as “Minimum Wage,” which I first encountered in Ron Charles’s newsletter. After reading the poem, I knew I wanted to talk to Bob. In the new collection, Breathe from Copper Canyon Press, the poem made me understand the grim state of the minimum wage. The poem made me understand a vital part of work life more than a news report or a data point.
Bob is a well established poet with tons of awards that include Guggenheim Fellowship, the Bobbitt Prize from the Library of Congress, and being a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is a professor at Virginia Tech, but he himself has worked in different jobs before landing in academia, including a stint as the owner of an automotive die design business. Another reason I wanted to chat with him.
For this episode of Book Stuff, Bob was graciously up for reading “Minimum Wage.” For that alone, this episode is worth checking out. We got into more issues around work than just the state of the minimum wage, though. “Simply put,” Bob told me on the podcast, “I don’t think most people like what they do for work.” People, Bob mentioned, are usually doing something they would not have chosen to do, even if they end up doing it for decades. Bob himself used to work in jobs he didn’t like, but far from a decade doing it. One (a factory job) he left after doing just a few minutes, a story he recalled to me.
I asked Bob how poetry can process the challenges of working. His answer gave me deeper value for poetry: “You have to connect what would be abstract in a jobs report to bodies, to events, to situations. You’re basically putting flesh on the situation.”
Poetry provides nerve endings, zaps to the heart in the form of language. One reason I love it. In our conversation, Bob and I also get into his process as a poet and so much more.
I hope you’ll check it out. You can find our conversation at the Book Stuff website, Apple, or Spotify.
Stay curious, keep reading.
