thinking small – micro-words with Richard Martin (unrehearsed)

Buy the 3rd selection in The White Quartet: Sighting Icarus: Poems by Richard Martin.
Review by deb Ewing

grail in a plain manila envelope from Dick Martin

Poet Richard Martin is connected to me via the constellation Peter Kidd, founder of Igneus Press. I heard the love in Pete’s voice when he told me Dick was coming out to Canyon for a visit. They planned to look over some of his poems for a project. Now there’s a lesson for everyone: even the guru needs another set of eyes.

Cells of Fancy is a rare publication of Peter Kidd’s works. While I’m waiting for The Human Condition to come into being, I started fishing around to see if I could find a copy of Cells for myself. Mr. Martin messaged me via Facebook to say he’d make me a copy. But that’s not why were here, exactly.

hear Sophia Kidd read Peter Kidd’s piece, “The Human Condition”

My envelope of grail included not only a staple-bound copy of Cells of Fancy, but several tiny publications by Richard Martin himself. I am fascinated and inspired.

Democritus Highball is a tiny book of micropoems printed on one carefully-folded letter-size sheet of printed paper, courtesy of Rinky Dink Press. It’s adorable. Fungo Appetite is an Unarmed Chapbook – 24 pages equalling six sheets of paper cut in half.

I reached out to these publishers of Dick’s microbooks in advance of writing this post. Michael of UnarmedJournal wrote back the most heart-wrenching email, both good and bad. He uses proper punctuation but no capital letters.

“i’m not sure what to answer,” he said, “since i’m in a quandary as to the continuation of unarmed…” He mentions COVID, doesn’t exactly call it an obstacle, but we already know, don’t we? It’s been an obstacle beyond explanation. Decades from now, historians will parse it for us.

Michael says of Richard Martin: “i am pleased to hear that you are to give attention to richard, the author of THE essential piece of americana, boink!” I got me a copy of boink! but I haven’t read it yet. It’s busy over here.

debora Ewing reads Rehearsed in Oblivion by Richard Martin. The cat is unrepentant.

I’m inspired. I see two ways to serve the greater good here: We, too, can make tiny books and we can disperse them by mail. Our society is so conditioned to instant response. Let’s bring back the anticipation of real paper envelopes coming in the mail from far-off places.

I’ll wrap up with the words of our Fearless Leader, Dr. Sophia Kidd, from October 2020:

I was talking with Richard Martin over the phone today, and he spoke of decades of collaboration with American small presses. At the end of his narrative, Dick said, “Everyone’s gotta have a church, man. Small press is MY church!” And I thought about how my dad, late publisher of Igneus Press, Peter Kidd, used to speak of small press as a form of tithing. My mind was going click. Click. Click. And my soul is going vroom. Vroom.