Canada’s Tree Killer Ink’s latest venture is the release of its Punk Chapbook poetry series which consists of 15 chapbooks by some of North America’s best known small press writers: http://www.epicrites.org/tree-killer-ink.html. Each chap is focussed on a specific theme and each cover is illustrated by the zany but hugely talented Swedish artist Janne Karlsson.
Lawrence Gladeview’s collection Praying For A Spare is #12 in the series & is focussed on the
theme of ten pin bowling. The twelve poems centre on a team of bowlers, known
as ‘the wreckers’, who play Tuesday nights at Cosmic Bowling- a one-story 70s
building with a “half-lit/ bubble plastic/ sign/ out front.” For Earl, Bill,
Dana, Sandy and Larry bowling becomes a kind of religion where they can escape
their petty family squabbles for a few hours, drink some beer and find mutual
respect and companionship.
In the poem ‘Hey Larry’, for example, Roy asks Larry to
attend mass with his family on Sunday. Larry tersely quips, “thanks roy// but i’m good// i already have/
a once a week/ obligation// & it gives me/ all the salvation/ I need.” In
‘It Was,’ Earl tells Larry matter-of-factly, “with my family/ fighting over/
the small stuff/ it’s great/ to come here/ & be in control.”
Gladeview
admits in a recent interview with BM (21 October 2014) that he doesn’t bowl as
much these days & is crap at it but realises the game’s important social
function:
“I would say I’m
more of an off and on, once-a-month bowler as opposed to a true “regular” alley
cat. When I was younger and in middle school, I joined bowling leagues in
the summers with my neighbourhood pals. Of course, we enjoyed the
sporting aspect of bowling, but we also liked getting away from our parents,
smoking cigarettes, and sneaking beers when we could. Now that I’m older,
bowling still serves as an outlet, but instead of breaking free from my parents,
now it’s more about unplugging from work and society. Bowling alleys are
places folks go to celebrate good times, cope during depressing weeks, and play
like kids no matter their age or status. I’m not a particularly good bowler,
but that’s not the point. Ask any of my buds and they’ll tell you I’m an
exceptional bowler, being sure to point out my beer guzzling belly way before
they mention my score.”
The poems are short & anecdotal. They stem from lived
experience and are conversational, confessional, with Larry the big pin-
reflecting & gently philosophising on the zen of bowling.
As the team laces up their bowling shoes they confide in one
another, share their various illnesses & family issues and in the process
they pull each other through the cluttered emotional debris of their lives. The
Tuesday night outings provide the “bowling buds” a sense of consistency & transparency
otherwise missing in their lives. As Larry says in ‘Earl’s Marriage’ after
introducing to the reader his team, “ I can’t help/ but smile// about/ how
this/ pack of alley cats/ is the one thing// that is/ dependable/ in our
lives.”
Asked
by BM how he arrived at selecting the unusual bowling theme for Praying For A Spare, Gladeview candidly surmises: “When
Wolf Carstens, the editor of Epic Rites Press, asked me to participate in his
Punk Chapbook Series that aimed to feature a tightly focused story told over
twelve poems, I had no clue where to start. Tales of my move from Virginia
to Colorado? My college years, from freshman year, arrest to senior
graduating triumph? But then I realized I was thinking on too large a
scale. The most memorable characters in life don’t come from exotic
situations, they come from everyday experiences that are made extraordinary by
their uninhibited personality. A few months back, my wife and I met
friends at the local lanes for my birthday, some of which I hadn’t seen in
awhile. The stories we shared and the atmosphere that existed that night
was very communal. That following week, I was talking with Wolf about the
chapbook series and Praying For A Spare began to set itself up; pin by pin,
poem by poem.”
One of the best poems in the collection ‘Whether You Are’ expresses
this idea of people on the edge, of falling into the abyss- in the communal
space of ten-pin bowling:
Whether
You Are
heartbroken
cheerful
struggling
or
well-off
no matter
if you’re
drunk
high
medicated
or
sober
some evenings
at the alley
you spend
your
entire night
trying
to keep
the weight
from
slipping
through
your fingers
& into
the
gutter.
(Reprinted with the permission of the poet).
Gladeview is currently
editing and revising his next full-length collection tentatively titled The Stray Trails Of Life. Aside
from that, he’s got an upcoming trip to Las Vegas on the calendar, a handful of
readings along the Front Range, and a Colorado winter creeping over the Rocky
Mountains.
Buy the Punk Chapbook series here- 15 chaps for only $40 plus postage. Find out also how you can contribute to the next series of chapbooks: http://www.epicrites.org/tree-killer-ink.html
