Poetry, Nature and Jerusalem: An Interview with the American Poet Philip Terman

Edited By:Saleh Razzouk

 

In philip Terman's poems you find two major elements: nature and judaism.

It seems that terman's judaism is not specific. He reads his metaphysical words in the wake of material signification. He prays often in the temple of nature. Just to discover that loving, sacred and all magic powers that transcend over reality are among us, inside the family life, the daughter, brother, mother and father.

This simplification brings him in encounter with simple emotions such as fear, forgetting, loss , as well such as death premonition on being old or the hazard of bullet from nowhere.

This apply on terman the meaning of claustrophobic reality. He is afraid of himself and of vast spaced nature. As to find no ease but in courts, houses and under independent and individual shadows. He escapes the law of self into nature of small scenes. In this limited area he builds his world with much care and more submission.

Philip terman is born in Cleveland, Ohio, on 4th November 1957. He read English at the university of Ohio, where had his first degree followed by Master and Ph.D. Degrees in English and Arts.

He joined the state university of Iowa and worked in teaching English between 1988-1991. To move to take position at Clarion university where he teaches since 1991 to present.

He is currently a professor of modern literature.

To his name the following collections:

• What Survives. Poems. Norwich, Norfolk, U.K.: The Sow’s Ear Press, 1993.

• The House of Sages. Dubois, PA: Mammoth Books, 1998.

• Book of Unbroken Days. Dubois, PA: Mammoth Books, 2004.

• Rabbis of the Air. Pittsburgh, PA: Autumn House Press, 2007.

• The Torah Garden. Pittsburgh, PA: Autumn House Press, 2011.

• Our Portion. Selected and New Poems. Pittsburgh, PA: Autumn House Press.2015.

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-When your first book appeared. Before or after joining Clarion university?.

My first book was what we call a chapbook—half the size of a full length book. Called WHAT SURVIVES and appeared in 1993, a year after my position at Clarion University. The first full-length book, THE HOUSE OF SAGES, appeared in 1998.

-How far you consider your self an oriantalist?. Let me explain: what does Jerusalem mean to you?

Not sure what you mean by “orientalist” in this context—which means an interest in people of the east. Jerusalem, as you probably know, is at the very center of Judaism—it is, according to the Jewish Bible, the “holy city,” the city of David, of Solomon’s Temple. It represents the “promised land” for the Jews. The Temple was the center of Jewish religion, which was in Jerusalem. When the Temple was destroyed for the second time in 70 CE, Judaism became a rabbinical, scholarly, religion which studies what they believe is “the word of God,”—i.e, the Torah, interpreting it. Judaism moved from The Temple to synagogues, houses of prayer and worship.

Nevertheless, many Jews believe Jerusalem is still the holy city. Each year at the holiday of Passover, Jews say: “Next year in Jerusalem,” meaning that next year Jews will celebrate in the holy city of Jerusalem, God’s promised land. My poem about Israel begins with “Next Year in Jerusalem” that deals with this.

As for me, I like to think of everything in the bible—indeed, all of literature—are metaphors. So I take Jerusalem to be a holy place of the spirit, a higher consciousness, —call it God or just a holy awareness of the miraculousness of each moment, which are gifts that we should celebrate—the very act of being alive. Jerusalem, for me, is not a place somewhere else, but rather a place inside us. But this is a poetic vision, if you will, shared by many poets and writers.

- On your interpretation of Kuds, Jerusalem, you say it is a space within. How far this is different from the concept of hell in Miguel Unamuno thinking. He sees the hell a self experience we carry and live with.

We hear this belief frequently—that heaven and hell are states of mind. In Paradise Lost, Satan says that he himself is hell. I believe that these are psychological/emotional/spiritual. I would like to think “Jerusalem” is a metaphor for an ideal within each person but also for peace in the world.

Jews have a concept of “Tikkun Olam” which means “to heal, repair the world.” It’s a belief that we are all responsible for “healing” the world towards a state of peace and respect for all, no matter what religious belief one holds.

-Here we come to the THE difficult question.. What do you mean by promised land? Do you agree on the extinction and cleansing Arabs face in their home land?.

As with my belief in Jerusalem, I believe the promised land is internal. You must remember that Judaism has evolved over the years—there are several levels. But beyond that, one fascinating thing about Judaism (and perplexing to a lot of people, including Jews) is that there is no one central believe to which ALL Jews adhere. Jews are individualistic, and follow their own path. A key quality of Judaism is DEBATE. We argue a lot—we make good lawyers. We are constantly searching, asking questions, never quite certain. This is why Kafka was such a good Jew. But this is also a human trait, as well. Many Jews don’t believe in god—belief in god is not a criteria for Judaism. Judaism was a tribe and then a civilization before it became a religion. Religion is only one facet, and often not the most important. There is also the culture—the food, the art, the humor, the shared persecution over 2000 years, etc.

The three main branches of Judaism are:

Orthodox—these are the most observant, and take the bible literally. They would believe that Jerusalem is the promised land literally.

Conservative—these jews believe in the holiness of god, Jerusalem, etc., that Judaism is a special religion, and that Jerusalem is a holy place, but not necessarily restricted only to jews.

Reform—these jews are not religions at all, but identify with being jewish through ancestry, family, ritual, culture. Their feelings for israel stems from the movement that Jews, because they have been persecuted for 2000 years, needed a homeland of their own. That was the beginning of the Zionist movement—not religious, necessarily, but rather as a way of having their own country free of persecution.

As for me, —no; in no way would I agree to the extinction of the Arabs. And neither would the majority—vast majority of the jews. But I do believe too many jews feel that Israel should be a homeland only for the Jews, but that I think (my opinion) is mostly out of fear—directly related to the Holocaust and history that led up to the Holocaust.

If you notice in my book, my poem “Our Jerusalem” is preceded by “At Auschvitz,” -Israel following the Holocaust.

-You are an american. But America is almost every thing and nothing. Where from are your roots, your ancestors? Is that of particular importance?

A good question. My roots are in the Jewish culture, and I only know that they go back to Russia, where my ancestors resided. My grandparents immigrated from Russian to the United States because of the pogroms—sponsored persecution of Jews in Russia. As you can tell from my poetry, my roots are of primary importance—because they made me who I am today. I have written about them in many poems, including: “The Dress Factory,” “The Jewish Russian Woman Poet Termanowsky,” “At My Grandparents’ Grave,” “Photograph of the Ship Bulgaria,” and too many others to mention here!

-Who is the poet you like and reread more

Of course, I love many poets. Among the more modern: Whitman, Neruda, Sepehri, Vallejo, Rilke,Dickinson, Keats, Lorca, Paul Celan, Yehudi Amichai, Darwish, Edmond Jabbes, Osip Mandelstam, Yeats, Milosz, James Wright...

-On prose side who is the novelist you prefer.

Kafka, Doestoyevski, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Joyce, Proust, Isaac Singer, Melville’s Moby Dick…and many more I could mention..

-I do not believe in genres. But i am on the side of sensitivity?. Do you think you had achieved poetic sensitivity? How far you had reached? WhT about the prose shadows in your poems. Are you content on them. Do they give depth to the poetic diction you explore and construct.This is a fabulous question. I hope I have achieved a “poetic sensitivity.” That could mean somewhat different things to different people. I’m not sure how far I have reached; I think, though, that I can reach much more depth. I’m not sure how much depth I am capable of, but I would like to find out. But there are challenges—for example, my home life is very rich and rewarding and much of my poetry stems out of it. But it might also preclude me from the kind of depth one can sometimes only achieve in suffering, or in being alone, or in a deeper understanding of human trauma.

As for the prose shadows—perhaps you mean the narrative or story-telling aspect of the poetry? If this is what you mean, then that is very important to me. Judaism is very much a story telling culture and tradition—the bible and other writings are full of stories. Is that what you mean by “prose shadows”? My poems have many stories, many of which have been passed down to me.

-on which ground you built the standards of the selective mode in your last book. On moral and artistic ground or on subject preference.

I don’t have any pre-set standards, but I’m sure every writer has perspectives, visions, how they see and negotiate the world. I would say a combination of moral, artistic, and subject grounds. You notice my subjects are similar (I think every writer, especially poets, has certain subjects that captivate them)—family, ancestry, cultural, nature, disenfranchised. I like to write about other writers who have moved me (Proust, Sepehri, Whitman, etc.). In poetry we try to transform the world, make language musical and beautiful, capture something fleeting and present it to interested readers.

-The family has good space in your poems. Are you loyal to the family. Or you use them like symbol motions you to another end of the affair.

Family inspires me—both the family I grew up in and my family now. I write on the basis of feelings—i write about what I feel deeply about.

- In a short poem on Rachel curie i noticed how much you 've been distressed and in agony. But rachel is only a result of a reason. What is the reason in your opinion.

You mean the reason I wrote about Rachel, I assume? Rachel seemed to be heroic because of her strong feelings for the people who were suffering and in her attempt to protest the destruction of their houses, which seems to be quite an extreme response, insensitive, creating fear and terror. I believe fear is created by the fanatics of both sides. The poem about Rachel is in a long sequence that attempts to express my evolving experience about the Israeli/Palestinian situation. By the way, the poem will be included in an anthology called “The Palestine Anthology” (I think) and I will let you know more about it when it is published. I wrote an introduction to that poem that will also be published in that anthology and will send it to you. It is on another computer. It explains my thoughts about that poem.

-What you know on Arabic literature.

Not very much at all, and would like to learn more. I have read Adonis and Darkish and a few others. I do know it is a deep and rich tradition, of course.

-we have a split in America. The new world is different from the united states. This is applicable to soviet union and russia. Both are different entities. This brings us to the question: new writings are different from their roots. Riding horses does not match with riding cars. We are talking here on two styles of living with two kinds of philosophy or thinking?

it seems you are asking what the differences are between ancient and modern poetry. The difference is a lot like the difference between riding horses and riding cars! But these are both modes of transportation, and it seems to me that the difference is in the evolving technology. There are similarities (note the word “horsepower”), of course—that language is the medium, that formal techniques like: imagery, alliteration, rhythm, diction that uses puns, and ambiguity, similarity of subjects, etc. This is true of all arts. Certainly for example a painting by Michelangelo is different from a painting by Van Goth and then a modern painting by Picasso? It has to do with the evolution of the art. Culture is always changing, evolving (not sure if it’s “progressing”)—like everything else—architecture, etc, the present building on the past. Does this response address your question?

-Have you enjoyed reading the portions of king solomon in the old bible, torah ( song of songs). How far this anchored in poetry. And how much affected the poetic sensitivities of generations. Do you have these poetic fingerprints on your books.

Definitely. First, since I’m a product of Jewish tradition, and read/study in that tradition, and am often moved by the literature of that tradition, it affects me. Second, the biblical stories affect all of our culture because of how deeply the bible is steeped in everyday life. But that doesn’t mean I (or others) accept the bible as god’s truth; rather, the literature—stories, poems, etc, are powerful, which is why I think it has lasted so long—very relevant even today. I think that’s true for other bibles of other cultures?

-I understand the relations between arabs and jews were not at ease. It started in arabia after the dawn of islam and continued after ww2. It Started from arabia to end on the eastern flank of the middle east. Do you have an explanation. Do you think it is the same conflict or another one with old masks.

I’m certainly not an expert on this conflict. historically, Arabs and Jews got along with each other better than either one with Christians (think of the crusades). Give your two options, I would say it is the “same conflict with old masks.” It has to do with land, doesn’t it?

-arabs in America are less important compared with irish or anglosaxons but they are there. Sinan Antoon, the iraqi poet and novelist. Edward Said the christian of Palestinian origin who is the author of oriantalism , culture and imperialism, and out of place. Haliem Barakat the sociologist who writes novels. What kind of message they delivered and what kind of influence they played, on you and in general if any.

I am unfortunately not familiar with Antoon’s work, though I have ordered some of his poetry and will read his fiction. As for Said, he has enormous influence on liberal Americans and all who are of the view that Palestinians should have a homeland. I have read some of his work, and think of him as a major voice. I am no scholar of his work, but certainly he has influenced all people who think deeply about the situation in the Mideast. Extremely well respected.

-What is your next book, do you have bulk of it. Do you have title in mind. Or you take a nap in order to find another track before it is too late for a change.

Each book evolves after I have written a number of poems. I just wrote a poem called Crazy Tormented Masters, a title I like, but I’ll have to wait to see what the other poems reveal—those I have written and those yet to be written. Since my most recent book just came out a few months ago, I am at a nice place where I idon’thave to hurry, but rather take a few naps and hope for poetic dreams! Can you access this? It’s a very popular radio personality who reads a poem every morning. A month ago he read one of my poems about lying in the hammock and listening to Proust.

-What you say about poetic drama ( Shakespeare for example) and poetic novels just ventured in and formed. Do you link them with poetry or in your opinion both are intruders.

Yes, I link them very much with poetry—all great literature, no matter what form, is influential. I mentioned several of my favorite novelists, many of them very poetic—Proust, Joyce, Faulkner, Marquez (who I don’t think I mentioned but fantastic), Kafka (very poetic in his own way)…and any others.

- you have no sense of guilt which is very vibrant in works by yizhar smilansky, amos oz, etgar keret, yael dayan. Do you think the motives of guilt is political or social .

If you ask my family and friends they will tell you differently about guilt! Guilt is often a religious sensibility—that we are not doing enough ethically or morally. “Jewish guilt” is a famous saying. It can motivate right actions.

 

August 2015