Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg

by Richard Hugo

This is Richard Hugo, talking with a man in a cowboy hat named, “Paul,” about writing my favorite poem — followed by a terrific reading.

Another scene from a 1976 documentary on Hugo called, Kicking Loose the Gravel. Good stuff. For a Hugo superfan, this is like realizing there’s two Beatles records you’d never heard of.

For some reason, as I’ve gotten older, really good, musical verse has started having a profound physical effect on me. As with “The Milltown Union Bar” poem/video I posted last night, I listen, and something crazy starts happening. I get really tingly and feel my blood pressure going up and I get a little dazed and emotional. Word-drunk.

Guess I’m realizing my love of poems in college was mostly intellectual. Exercises in concision and ellipsis through verbal carpentry — like building and solving little wooden puzzles.

It’s all different today. So strange. I hear a poem by Hugo, or Lowell, or Billy Collins, and it just sweeps me away.

Which I love. And am so weirdly grateful for.