Tribute to a Poet

CONRAD HILBERRY

Poet and retired professor of Kalamazoo College died last week.  He was known best for most people for his poetry frequently found in a local magazine, Encore.  I remember him fondly for a presentation he gave at the an annual meeting of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, & Letters almost 30 years ago.

He was the featured speaker at the luncheon attended by members of the various sections of the Academy.  I think we all found more reason to appreciate poetry for its various benefits.  I don't remember all the points he talked about and illustrated with readings of some of his poems, but one I recall vividly.

Showing how simple or mundane things can be appreciated more with poetic reflection, he read a poem about the the knife and fork.  It was immediately followed by a poem entitled "The Spoon".  The poem consisted of three words, "I work alone."  Wow, it had great impact with me, in part from its inclusion with the entirety of his presentation.

Seeing how poets can encapsulate larger concepts in simple observations launched me in to one of my never completed endeavors.  I had been impressed by the selections displayed at the Detroit Art Museum (title uncertain), including a floor or major section devoted to works of Black artists.  I thought, if poetry can make me appreciate a spoon, couldn't poets write poems about works of art that would give us greater appreciation of a work of art?

Today's holiday commemorates one of my heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King.  It may be just a coincidence the application of poems to art was conceived as leading to a program involving inner city schools using it to develop a poetry-art project to stimulate academic achievement among the youth of the city.

With Kalamazoo having a high density of poets and an excellent small art institute, I thought I should start closer to home.  I worked out a theoretical approach of having a competition of artists making poems about works of art possessed by the institute.  They would then select the best for an assortment of art works.  The they could be put in a guide book for patrons to use when viewing the pictures.  Their evaluation of pictures would be compared to evaluations by a control group, given a booklet of standard information about the pictures without the poems, with an exit poll.

If exit polls showed benefits from using the poems, programs to involve students could be developed.

It could be done without much expense, costs to arrange the exhibit, provide coffee and munchies for the poets, print booklets and materials for the poets competition, and perhaps other expenses could be defrayed by a very small grant from a local art fund.  When I checked with them it was the wrong time of the year for submissions.  The art institute had shown some interest and I left them with a copy of my proposal.  The grant proposal seemed more work than needed, I thought of seeing if the local poets group would be interested in doing it, but then, typical for me, I went on to other things.

Joseph G. Engemann    Kalamazoo, Michigan    January 16, 2017