One Funny Thing
By Mark Leidner.
My favorite pieces of writing enact the author’s (or speaker’s) peculiar mental state so clearly that I feel like I’m fully inside someone else’s mind, processing the world as only they process it. When I emerge, it’s as if they’ve loosened the boundaries of my own mind, freeing me just a little bit from all my old familiar modes of thought. Whether they’re comics, poets, essayists, novelists—if this is what they offer, I’ll just about follow them anywhere.
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This week I’ve been enjoying Returning the Sword to the Stone, the new poetry collection by Mark Leidner. He’s a very funny writer, not in a “ha ha” way so much as an “oh, I have no idea how you got from A to B but it seems to make perfect sense, and I feel physically lighter now that you’ve taken me there” way, but often also in a “ha ha” way. My favorite poem in the book doesn’t seem to be published online anywhere so I can’t link to it, but my friend Sarah just tipped me off to a recording of Leidner reading it. I thought I might share that with you today. It’s called “Youth Is A Fugitive” and I hope you enjoy it.
Have a great Sunday.
~Seth
