The introduction I wanted to give they said
was inappropriate.
[LAUGHTER]
Could well get me arrested.
They said be short.
I said I'll be brief.
Richard Siken, while writing both Crush and War
of the Foxes, alternated between working as a bartender
and in group homes.
He filled essentially the same purpose in each,
giving people the things they wanted--
what they needed.
Us going to him because he's a professional,
and could fill these wants and these needs more completely,
and with greater skill, than we could do for ourselves.
And his books, his poetry, they function in the same way.
They serve the same purpose.
And as with the bar, and with the homes,
it's an act of service.
It's a wholly selfish act, as all our actions are.
But by giving us what we need and what we want,
and doing it better than we can do ourselves,
he creates a space in which he is a possible thing.
I'm fortunate to exist on the periphery of this space.
Proud to call him my friend.
His work, and his service through his work,
is how I was able to begin to understand poetry.
And for better or worse, it's the lens through which I
view much of literature today.
He's won awards, but I won't bother to list them here.
I'll say that if I had any say, he'd win all of them.
Richard Siken.