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Life of Poetry
Near Scattered Praise Lies Our Substantial Endeavor is a fascinating collection of poetry comprised of poems written from the mid-60s to current day and covers a wide range of life experiences. What inspires you to write poetry?
From an early age of perhaps 12 or 13, I began to be genuinely fascinated by the ways in which words “worked together” (or failed to work together) to make sense — or, in fact, did not make sense. These actions were most evident to me in the reading and writing of poetry, so that phenomenon is likely what drew me to poetry as a means of experimenting and taking pleasurable chances with language that were somehow “legal” or acceptable. Usually the world also made a different kind of sense inside the wondrous confines of poetry, so that had an appeal to me.
What are some emotions or themes you find your poetry often exploring?
I find that I am frequently drawn toward making meaningful distinctions between the seemingly esoteric and the seemingly everyday — both in actual substance in real life (IRL) and also in words and discussions and thoughts and considerations (in abstractions). More frequently, however, I find that I am considering and challenging my relationship with God. I’m often startled by the frequency with which I am considering this relationship. For instance, a minor poem invoking the Spanish Inquisition can suddenly become a larger questioning of a larger universe than the one I had in mind. A poem such as “Rules of Engagement,” in which I was trying to play with the placement of words to achieve different meanings, becomes a poem rich in the dust of pervasive and insistent mortality… These are wonderful “morphs,” by the way! These wonderful surprises and twists and turns are the great things we live for, and we don’t even know it!
My favorite poem from this collection is ‘Mr. Oppenheimer’s Revenge’. Do you have a favorite poem from this book?
I am extremely glad and grateful that your favorite poem is “Mr. Oppenheimer’s Revenge.” I am struck — struck! — by my own lines, “How does our own resemblance/stagger into the divine?”
One of my favorite poems in the collection is “Countdown” simply because it launched (pun?) me into a quiet, “undercover” life of poetry. It was my first published poem, it encouraged some notice in the publishing world, and it confirmed for me that I could do whatever I wanted in the world of poetry.
Do you have plans to write and publish more works of poetry?
Yes, I have plans to write and publish more works of poetry. But I am in a hospice program that may have other plans for me. It’s that simple… lol… However, should I have more time left on the clock than I think possible, I would be tempted to conduct more work on the truly difficult item on the agenda, which are the “petites essais” I’ve brought forth in the final section of this book. I say very little about them, but to be taken seriously — or taken at all! — I need to say far more about what they mean to me.
Author Links: Goodreads
His ambitious collection, Near Scattered Praise Lies Our Substantial Endeavor, is subtle in its exploration of contrasts, balancing between the light and dark of our natures and confronting the mystery of our destiny. His collection includes a unique, deeply felt love poem about the simple act of driving across a covered bridge, while it also embraces a poem that observes contemporary society as a “Diet of Worms.”
For thoughtful readers of poetry, Penoyer builds landscapes and vistas in which meaningful destinations may be discovered. Within the collection itself, he precedes his poem about a 1960’s launch of a Saturn V rocket with a poem describing the ancient lure of Stonehenge, while he completes the vista with an exploration of the shocking but weighty evanescence of fireflies.
Adventurous poetry readers will likely recognize Penoyer’s picaresque. He has been suspected of coaxing the Winged Victory of Samothrace into somehow taking flight in the Louvre, and he has been known to linger as an amateur sleuth on Hampstead Heath on a certain afternoon in 1819, suspicious of a bird.
Near Scattered Praise Lies Our Substantial Endeavor
Near Scattered Praise Lies Our Substantial Endeavor is a stimulating collection of poetry divided into three parts, Ante Meridiem (morning), Post Meridiem (afternoon), and Fragments and Petites Essias (small trials). Comprised of poems written from the mid-1960s to current day, the collection covers a wide range of life experiences, such as fighting in the Vietnam War as a younger man and fighting cancer as an older man. Written in a style that is reminiscent of classic poets such as Walt Whitman, while also challenging long-standing poetic forms, Penoyer’s debut collection explores themes of survival, meaning, belief, and truth.
Penoyer keeps his poems on the shorter side, rarely going past a full page, so his work has an urgent and direct tone. Though his poems are short, he makes use of every word, carefully selecting each word and metaphor. The range of topics that are covered while all still feeling like they belong was impressive too. He uses a lot of sound play which can be seen in this example of alliteration from first stanza of the poem “Even in Eden.” In other poems, he sticks to a recognizable rhyming pattern.
Near Scattered Praise Lies Our Substantial Endeavors by Ron Penoyera is a beautiful collection, though I found the first section stronger than the last two sections. I find some of the lyrics hauntingly beautiful, coming back to me even after I closed the book. I am happy I have had the opportunity to experience this collection.
Pages: 132 | ASIN: B0B69J21YB
LITERARY TITAN 