RONALD BAATZAlyson Benitez & Kelly Muraszewski

Why we chose Baatz? Kelly – Teach Haiku?

the curves of your bodyin the curves of mine-when we are old and blind

Alyson – Unknown and mysterious! Why doesn’t he want to be known?

Background Anonymous: “the only bio i ever give is that i’ve been living in the

same farmhouse close to twenty years.”

Only for the Old and the FragileI have no desire to accumulatewealth, and fame is completely outof the question.Just to be held aloftby the birds would be plenty.

Know for sure: Lives - New York with his wife and a cat named Mooche. Writes lyric poetry – Deep expressions of his personal and emotional feelings including: childhood, aging parents, relationships, stream of consciousness, death

Publications: 1974 (7 years), 1982 ( 5 years), 1987, 1989 (10 years)-eroticism poetry, 2000, 02’, 03’, 05’, 06’, 07’,08’, 09’, 10’

Website (ronaldbaatz.outlawpoetry.com) old Roman saying: Life is a short dream (life isn’t real and death is looming) –Theme…

“yeah, that's me, kelly. use the picture, sure. hope all is well. it's been rainy here, chilly. the cat seems to have its tail under every step we take...”

Bibliography*ALL THE DAYS ARE – Tideline Press 1974 * AFTERNOON PLUMS RISING – Tideline Press 1982 * STRANGE BREAKFAST – Permanent Press 1987 * LUCKY SO BEAUTIFUL – Wolfscat Press 1989 * RAVAGED – Clark Street Review Press 2000 * MT TREMPER HAIKU – Flypaper Press 2000 * AT HERRING COVE – Lockout Press 2002* WHITE TULIPS – Tideline Press 2003 * IN A CLAY PIG’S EYE – Seastone Editions 2005 * ON THE BACK PORCH – Concrete Meat Press 2006 * FISH FORK – Seastone Editions 2008 * BIRD EFFORT – Kamini Press 2008* OUT OF HIS CHILDHOOD – Zerx Press shared chapbook with Mark Weber 2007 * CEMETERY COUNTRY - Zerx Press shared chapbook with Mark Weber 2008* SAY A PRAYER FOR MY DOG - Zerx Press shared chapbook with Mark Weber 2009 * NEXT EXIT: SEVEN - Kendra Steiner Editions shared chapbook with Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal 2008

* THE COMPANIONSHIP OF THE PLUM – Kendra Steiner Editions shared chapbook with Bill Shute 2008 * THE WORMWOOD REVIEW – three special sections issues: 104, 140, 144 “Second Hand”, WR #104 1986; “Out in the Late October Garden”, WR #140 1995; “Every Winter”, WR #144, 1997 * YELLOW SILK – anthology of erotic arts and letters Harmony Books 1990 * THE BOOK OF EROS – anthology of arts and letters from Yellow Silk Harmony Books 1995 * SEVEN HUNDRED KISSES – anthology of erotic writing from Yellow Silk Harper San Francisco * LITERATURE AND ITS WRITERS: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama by Ann Charters, Samuel Charters * THE MOON IS A FRIEND FROM THE OLD COUNTRY – Zerx Press shared chapbook with Mark Weber 2010 * BIRD SCHOOL Seastone Editions 2010

Under My Bedthere's a poem under my bed about eating cherries

it had fallen out of a book i was reading and slipped out of arm's reach

and now i'm just too tiredto get the dust mop to reach for this poem

and besides, i like knowing it's there on these cold winter nights

a poem written in a season much friendlier than this one

a poem with pits in it

Early questions we asked…there's a poem under my bed -Is it really a poem that he is referring to? about eating cherries -What do the cherries symbolize?

it had fallen out of a book i was reading and slipped -What kind of book is he reading?out of arm's reach -Did he actually read the poem?

and now i'm just too tired -Does he not like the poem? to get the dust mop to -Why would he use a ‘dust mop’ to reach for the poem? reach for this poem

and besides, i like knowing it's -Why is there comfort in knowing its under his bed?there on these cold winter nights -Why are the personal pronouns (‘I’) not capitalized?

a poem written in a season -Is the ‘season’ summer or spring? Does it matter?much friendlier than this one

a poem with pits in it -What do the ‘pits’ suggest?

Is this the poet’s stream of consciousness? Why is there no punctuation, except for one comma?

Initial conjectures…there's a poem under my bed about eating cherries

it had fallen out of a book i was reading and slipped -We thought he read the poem and didn’t like it. out of arm's reach -Thus, he could have reached it, but chose not to retrieve it. and now i'm just too tiredto get the dust mop to -The poem is not good because it is compared to dust.reach for this poem

and besides, i like knowing it's there on these cold winter nights

a poem written in a season much friendlier than this one

a poem with pits in it -The ‘pits’ symbolize the poem has bad elements. It stinks!

_________________________________________________________________________________________ Due respect…-Poem was never read. - -Needed a dust mop because of its length.-The ‘pits’ symbolize that it hasn’t been explicated yet.

We tried again…Keeping in mind this time that Baatz tends to write dark, gloomy poetry.

dead moth-only a breezemoving its wings

O Blessed Horns – father’s deathRoberto – friend’s wild life and deathBuried Animals – his dead petsOnly for the Old and the Fragile –looming deathThe days that followed – a poet found deadIn Moscow – homeless drunks found deadI bury dogs – about burying animalsIn His Eyes – finding his father deadThe Old Heart – aging

an insectthat has so many legsi had to kill it

Elements discovered…there's a poem under my bed Metaphor - ‘under my bed’ – my

pastPhonetic stops- p, d, b

about eating cherries / Metaphor - ‘poem…about eating cherries’ - my youthAssonance - ē in ‘eating’ and ‘cherries’

it had fallen out of a book Metaphor – ‘fallen out of a book’ – youth has fallen out of my life

i was reading and slipped Metaphor – ‘slipped’ – youth slipped awayNo Capitalization – personal pronoun

out of arm's reach Enjambment– throughout poemNo Punctuation – none whatsoever

and now i'm just too tired Metaphor – ‘tired’ – oldAlliteration – ‘t’ in ‘too’ and ‘tired’No Capitalization – personal pronoun

to get the dust mop to Metaphor – uses ‘dust mop’ because the poem (youth) is now dead and has turned to dust

reach for this poem / Repetition – ‘reach’ – can’t go back to his youth

and besides, i like knowing it's Caesura – tone shifts to optimismAssonance – ī in ‘i’ and ‘like’ No Capitalization – personal pronoun

there on these cold winter nights / Metaphor – comforting to know he once was young and he still has fond memoriesEnjambment – throughout poem

a poem written in a season Metaphor – ‘in a season much friendlier’ - youth was kinder to him

much friendlier than this one / Metaphor – ‘than this one’ – than being old

a poem with pits in it Assonance – ĭ in ‘with’, ‘pits’, ‘in’, and ‘it’Metaphor – youth- a ‘life’ that ends

Theme & Means Metaphors galore – ALLEGORY – extended metaphor for loss of youth Phonetic stops – emphasizing annoyance Enjambed – youth and old age are continuous and blended & his

stream of consciousness Assonance – ē (‘wheee’ sound) – youth ī (uplifting sound) – some pleasure

ĭ (‘icky’ sound) – with life there’s also the horrific Alliteration – ‘t’ – emphasize annoyance of being old Repetition – wants to stress that his youth is long gone, out of reach No punctuation of personal pronouns – feels self is insignificant No punctuation at all – nothing is significant Caesura- energy shifts expressing some fondness for life 1st person- very personal, as is a POEM to the author (practically his life)

Under my bedBy: Ronald Baatz

there's a poem under my bed about eating cherries

it had fallen out of a book i was reading and slipped out of arm's reach

and now i'm just too tiredto get the dust mop to reach for this poem

and besides, i like knowing it's there on these cold winter nights

a poem written in a season much friendlier than this one

a poem with pits in it

Under my bed

References "Chronogram Magazine - November 01, 2008 - Poetry: Ronald

Baatz." Chronogram Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2008/11/Literary+Supplement/Poetry-Ronald-Baatz>.

"Ronald Baatz." Official website of Laura Hird. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://www.laurahird.com/showcase/ronaldbatz.html>.

"Ronald Baatz – Ronald Baatz." Ronald Baatz. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://ronaldbaatz.outlawpoetry.com/ronald-baatz/>.

"Ronald Baatz — Blogs, Pictures, and more on WordPress." WordPress.com — Get a Free Blog Here. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wordpress.com/tag/ronald-baatz/>.