A&E
Chase Twitchell discusses tensions between Zen and poetry writing in public reading
By Cilly Genarios ’19
November 3, 2016
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Zen is described by Merriam Webster as a Japanese form of Buddhism that emphasizes meditation. In this surface understanding, Zen seems to coincide nicely for the career of a poet. However, poet Chase Twitchell, who visited campus on Oct. 25 would disagree.
A student of Zen, Twitchell speaks to the fundamental tensions between Zen and poetry and her struggles between the two. Twitchell said, “Zen teaches that what we experience in the world is a kind of primal immediate reality that can’t be translated into words, and that words can actually get in the way of it.”
Poetry is, fundamentally, the art of words, and so Twitchell faces the dilemma of coinciding her beliefs from her Zen teachings and her profession as a published poet. “Zen teaches you to look at as something as it is,” Twitchell said when referring to her understanding of a Zen poem as one with very few metaphors and little poetic description.
Currently, she admits she is still trying to understand how to allow the two to co-inhabit her psyche peacefully since she has had an appreciation for words since her time working in a letterpress printing studio. “[Letterpress printing] made me realize that each word as really important... [the] labor makes each impression so precious.”
This appreciation for the effort required for each word’s existence on a printed page forced Twitchell to slow down and appreciate the meaning behind each word and their placement and portrayal on a page. “It slowed me down and made me look at the words on a page in ways I wouldn’t have if I had just been reading mass produced words,” she said.
Her time in a letterpress studio stayed with her through her current learnings as a student of Zen. “There’s something so physical about [letterpress printing]–plastic, in the original sense of the word.
Students in the crowd during her reading that night felt the same way, like Sean Schneckloth ’20 and Emma Reynolds ’17. The two students presented their letterpress printing of one of Twitchell’s poems at the beginning of the night, providing copies after the reading for all who were interested.
Schnecloth and Reynolds both encouraged any students interested in printing copies of poems from visiting poets to email them directly or to email the letterpress printing club (prntcrew@ hamilton.edu).
Twitchell’s appreciation for letterpress printing and the written word may be in conflict with her Zen teachings, but she continues to write, hoping to one day find a way to concede the two opposing philosophies within her everyday life.
Some of her critics have commented on the switch noticed in her poetry after her Zen teachings began to become more visible in her writing. In response, Twitchell wrote many poems regarding her Zen learnings and even wrote some poems revolving around the process of writing poems, including one called “How Zen Ruins Poets.”
Although these poems may be potential reactions to her critics, Twitchell also argues that her Zen teachings have found their way into her poetry through no effort of her own. “I think your subjects choose you as a poet.”
In this way, Twitchell argues that poetry has the ability to reveal to your conscious wisdom from your subconscious. She advised, “I think what happens in poetry is you’re talking to a part of yourself and you don’t know what that part of yourself wants to say yet.”
Twitchell therefore believes it is important to allow poems to flow without too much interference from the conscious mind. She said, “If you’re willing to be stupid and ignorant of knowing where you’re going [with the poem] you have a chance of saying something you didn’t know you knew and surprising yourself.”
Writing poetry is personal by nature. In addition to this intimate craft, Titchwell enjoys meditation and appreciates other Zen teachings. Her passions prompt her hope to figure out how to live as a professional Zen poet one day.