美国国家公共电台 NPR--Saeed Jones confronts the end of the world in new poems

Saeed Jones confronts the end of the world in new poems

Transcript¹

When Saeed Jones was working on his new book of poems during the pandemic's lockdown phase, he learned something about grief — it doesn't end, it just changes with time.

The book is called Alive at the End of the World. The poet was nearing the 10-year anniversary of his mother's passing, and as he was working through his own loss, he was also surrounded by a collective experience of it.

"My reckoning with those personal feelings kind of keyed me into what we're kind of going through in a really a systemic way," Jones says.

As he points to climate disaster, gun violence, and America's broader systemic failures — he also writes about a new relationship and falling in love.

He says the reader sees him on the page asking: "Am I allowed to love? Can we do this right now? Like, is this an appropriate time?"

Consider this excerpt² from one of the book's four title poems —

I hear the sirens and I am their

scream but tonight, I will moan

a future into my man's mouth.

The poet adds that these questions about love come from an American culture too invested in just "moving on."

"I think Americans, American culture, we're not good at acknowledging grief and loss," he says.

Because for Jones, the end of the world is not a one time event. "Sorry, it's not going to be like the movie Deep Impact or Armageddon where there's just like one dramatic event and we all come together," he says. "No, this is ... it is a new era, I think, actually, of civilization. We're entering a lot of collapse³ and destabilization."

In the title poem, Jones wonders what it means to love and create amidst this:

In America, a gathering⁴ of people

is called target practice or a funeral,

depending on who lives long enough

to define the terms. But for now,

we are alive at the end of the world,

shell shocked by headlines and alarm

clocks, burning through what little love

we have left.

"So you see, even as there's just total peril⁵ and calamity⁶ on the page with these poems, there are still human beings who have to go about the business of making sense of their lives," he says.

And through his poems, Jones reminds us that even though it often feels like the end of the world — we are alive, and we are here.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

6 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。