suddenness of life: michael estabrook r.i.p.

somewhere in a poem the late polish poet tadeusz rozewicz does the ordinary things required of living in our present civilization as he says, 'he dives into life'.  the more i wade in the waters of living the more i am sure that poetry, being a poet, is not a special thing or occupation.  rather these are the ordinary actions of a sentient being at a certain slant of life.  in other words, poetry is not a rarefied art.  it is a human task using human language.  the poet is the person who tunes her inner antenna to the radio station that jack spicer claimed all poetry arrives.  

which may or may not be something the poet michael estabrook would agree with.  culture for him was indeed the products made of the highest materials of human reckoning.  but he was a prolific small-press poet whose poems were often in ordinary speech about the common things of living, including the working life of the company office.  estabrook often wrote poems about his beloved wife, patricia too.  for his love & devotion to his wife, to his family, were so palpably strong as to render his poems indelible like tattoo ink on the skin.  

i regret that i never got to writing michael estrabook an email.  he was, as i said a moment ago, prolific.  he was one of the first poets i fell in love with during the early days of the internet too.  but i would google for his work & i've been forturnate to download a few of his e-books.  i recommend going to his website now, https://michaelestabrook.wpcomstaging.com/, & downloading his e-books before his website goes dark.  

michael estabrook died on may 11, 2023 from a sudden heart attack at age 74.  his obituary is here https://memorials.actonfuneralhome.com/michael-estabrook/5192834/#details.  read a recent interview here https://bookviewreview.com/2022/08/03/bookview-interview-with-author-michael-estabrook/.

i thought michael estabrook would be here forever.  like me.  like you.  again, he was prolific as hell & because he frequently published his poems i thought i'd have time enough at last to write him, finally.  but fucking life accelerates as we age.  even if our inner life tells us that we are still 25.  so if you get an email from me - i shit you not - & we never met it is because i admire your work & want to say hi before i shuffle off this mortal coil. 

at any rate, michael estabrook sure as hell dived into life & wrote it into his poetry.  he sure as shit gave me a lot of pleasure reading his poems.  i remember an early bio that said, in summary form, how he got his first tattoo, i think a heart with this wife's name, because of the influence of his 'beautiful daughter.'  that made me love him all the more.  

rest in poetry, michael