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percy-l - Re: [percy-l] "Weather Alert", by Larry Rhu, a poem about Walker Percy at the Waffle House

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  • From: John Pearson <jp AT jlarsp.com>
  • To: percy list <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [percy-l] "Weather Alert", by Larry Rhu, a poem about Walker Percy at the Waffle House
  • Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2025 13:27:40 -0600

Larry,
Thanks for sharing the poem. There is a lot going on there in a few lines. It’ll take a few readings for all the layers to sink in. 
I appreciate the abrupt transitions, which is how life often is. A storm bears down while you’re trying to have a conversation with Percy, i.e. life gets in the way, and you can’t escape the effects of the storm, sharpie be damned. 
It seems a fine poem for our present moment, as well as containing more universal insights about our life on the planet, 
Thanks again for sharing it with the Percy group!

Best,

John Pearson

On Feb 1, 2025, at 5:40 AM, Henry P. Mills III <wppdirector AT gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Percy-L,

I’m delighted to share with you Percy-L member Larry Rhu’s poem about his imagined meeting with Walker Percy at the Waffle House. The selection comes from his recently published poetry collection, Pre-owned Odyssey & Rented Rooms (2024). also attach a PDF version of the poem that includes his poem "Amor Fati” (pps. 98-99).  

See the listserv book announcement from last week at the following link, which includes a YouTube video of Larry reading several of his poems: https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/2025-01/msg00000.html Larry hails from Columbia, SC. 

Thank you for giving your permission for us to enjoy your fine work, Larry! I'm certain Larry would be glad for any responses or interest to his poem.

Best wishes,
Henry Mills
Director / Percy-L Manager


-----------------------

Weather Alert
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses the
Waffle House Index as an unofficial metric to determine the effect
of a storm and to estimate the scale of assistance necessary for
recovery.

As the hurricane approaches, imagine
breakfast conversation over eggs over
easy with biscuits at the Waffle House

in Covington with Walker Percy.
Don't go so easy on Binx Bolling, he wrote
about piece of mine about The Moviegoer

and invited me across the Lake to visit.
Binx can get cozy with the reader! Charmed,
the unsuspecting esthete drops his guard.

Florence is storming Florence, and Columbia
is next. Historic flooding washed away
canals, fouling our water four months after

boy from here massacred prayer group
(hoping to start race war, so he said).
never knew Florentine more honest,

Cassio remarks about Iago, Venetian,
namesake of the angelic militant
against the Moors, Santiago Matamoros.

Far from the Grand Canal, in storm-tossed Cyprus
few acts later, Iago tries to murder
Cassio. The sky is darkening overall.

Denying facts and stats in tweets, our Ba'al,
the god of storms, ignores the Waffle House.
His Sharpie stroke reroutes the hurricane.


(c) Lawrence F. Rhu, 2024


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<(c)Larry-Rhu-Pre-owned-Odyssey-&-Rented-Rooms-Sample(2024).pdf>




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