What Is a Poet?
POEMS, SHORT STORIES AND ESSAYS
by
ALEXANDER SHAUMYAN
Now available as 4 1/4" by
7" paperback (119 pages). US $12 (includes mailing cost).
Review
of What Is a Poet? by
Laurel Johnson of Midwest Book Review
MBR Bookwatch, February 2004
What is a Poet?
Poems, Short Stories, and Essays
Alexander Shaumyan
ashaumyan@hotmail.com for purchase
ISBN 1591964318 $9.00 105 pages
Alexander Shaumyan is a poet with a following for good reason. An
introductory quote by fellow poet Robert Jude (Ace) Forese is Shaumyan
in a nut shell: "A poet should aspire to become a living poem." With
this book of prose and poetry, Mr. Shaumyan shares the heart and mind
of a poet and thus becomes a living poem.
In a particular favorite, "The Stuporous Blues", he ponders life's
meaning. I excerpt three verse here:
Slowly reclining
In a dead position,
I contemplate the madness
Of the present day.
There in a home
I have put my father,
He's playing bingo
With my crazy mother.
Noisy people hustling,
Looking for some action,
Squirting in their noses
Iridescent powder.
In "Growing Old" he contemplates his mortality:
And I wish I were Endymion,
clutching in a tight fist
the key to the garden
of the fountain of youth,
or Dorian Gray, sauntering
in the London streets,
having captured the monstrous
physiognomy of senility.
"In Memory of a Poet" rages at a world that does not give as generously
as it receives:
A tired poet in a cage
Of foolish laurels and ovations,
You took your life in stifled rage,
You took your life in desperation.
"A Little Poem of my Estrangement" could be Shaumyan's anthem:
Some kind of culture shock has made me what I am,
or so they tell me,
but I cannot extract a square root out of
my loneliness
or multiply my happiness.
69 haikus comprise "On This Lonely Path". All are reflections of
Shaumyan's life and personality:
Above these churches,
Where sham miracles are sold,
Glows the silver moon.
I'm an idiot --
Somehow I missed the punch line,
While watching the stars.
Alexander Shaumyan's essays and short stories seem like extensions of
his poetry. They reveal the man, his thoughts, what is important to him
- love, justice, equality. "Pizza Poet" zeroes in on youthful hopes and
the pursuit of dreams. "What are We Going to Do?" decries a world where
human tragedy is big business and we are all pawns of fate. In all,
there are five essays and short stories included with the poetry.
Shaumyan packs a lot to contemplate into this latest book. He covers
every topic with his distinctive philosophy, which differs from
philosophers of times past. His is the philosophy of modern man, forced
to live in a world not entirely of his making.
Email me if you'd like to get a copy.
You can preview the table of contents by clicking on this file:
