I Almost Quit Writing: the longhand Taxon and Someday You Will Meet Poetry: the shorthand Taxon
By Theodore Archer Pope
I could no more explain Ted Pope’s art/music/and words than I could the magical afternoon at Tracey
Morgan Gallery that was the springboard for this project. Just as the mid-century Los Angeles poet,
Jack Spicer, proclaimed himself as much a receiver as a creator, so does Theodore Archer Pope.
What provoked Ted that day to crawl across the gallery floor and read directly from the fuchsia colored door
of the cabinet that was the centerpiece for his installation, an epic poem entitled The Old Bull? The
trusted adage “you had to be there” is appropriate here and the same could be said for the few who
witnessed his rowing a boat through imaginary waves or his hammer down dual performance (with his
son Dylan) of Michael Rumaker’s “The Fairies are Dancing.”
One can’t always explain art and the attempt to do so might be an obstruction to the process, to the gift.
This is especially true for an artist as stunningly prolific as Pope. A quick look at Ted’s face book page
reveals a thousand plus photographed pieces of meticulously rendered art. The cardboard panels that
make up the Almost Quit Writing part of this book were I believe rediscovered during one of Ted’s
readings where he had transported boxes of his work to the stage. The references to his country
gangster brother characters, Larry and Sam Ledbetter would date them to the early teens. The work in
this series features lavish color paintings and hand written as well as typed versions of the poems. It is
worth mentioning that left-handed Ted’s personal calligraphy is an art unto itself. The lettering is
incredibly consistent so that the reader may quickly adjust to the flow and may enjoy reading the poems
as they were originally created.
What artist doesn’t get discouraged, especially ones who have spent a lifetime pursuing their vision.
Pope is no different, but he uses the idea that the speaker in the poems almost quit writing as a
launching point for a myriad of ideas and details. The things that cause the speaker to almost quit
writing are not necessarily as important as the fact that he persists through indifference, war, the red
tape of the art/writing game, and other more surreal reasons.
I almost quit
writing after finding a millstone
in the forest while jogging.
I almost quit after I
looked in an old closet and found
a length of rope.
I almost quit writing after getting my submarine
stuck on a country road. (19)
The series concludes with this verse about the renewal of spring, leaving the reader with the idea that
the speaker is also renewed and has survived his crisis.
Last week I saw my first
lizard of spring. Brilliant
black and blue. Large.
Probably her kind
destined for breathing
long after we have stopped.
as long as there is a sun.
Maybe. (21)
The second written piece of the book is called Someday You Will Meet Poetry. Again a highlight is the
artist’s illustrations, if they can be called that. The art in the second half of the book is more subdued,
mostly black and white and includes some of the imagery that readers and viewers of Pope’s work have
come to expect: buffalos, birds, ships, and abstract landscapes.
For Pope who has often called himself poetry or at least when he performs it, seeks to embody it, takes
the personification of his passion to many interesting if not surprising places.
Someday you will meet Poetry and it will be like listening
to Human voices arguing for thousands of years how
does a horse run how many hooves does a horse have
on the earth at any time while running then Edward
Muybridge shows up at a racetrack sets a horse running
tripping strings connected to a series of cameras w/ brief
exposure times develops his film and puts an end to the
argument forever. (8)
Some day you will meet poetry.
And it won’t be like having Napalm dropped on you.
It will be like someone (trapped in darkness)
striking their last match. (9)
This piece is worth noting as in the text an upside down mirror image of the verse appears.
Someday you will meet poetry like witnessing a
mountain reflected in a lake… if the poem is good
you may be hard pressed to know which image is
mountain and which reflection (12)
This part of the book contains some of Pope’s most compelling work, including a poem for his longtime
partner, elite musician, Laura Pope, and mentions of the responsibility and love he feels toward his sons.
Wayword Books of Beaufort, SC, has done the art and literary community a great service by creating this
beautiful project by a much deserving genius outsider artist. If the reader subscribes to Wayword’s
yearly service, they will also receive extra gifts, including a one of a kind poetry ball cap and some of
Pope’s art in cans. Again, like being at one of Ted’s installations, you just have to see it.
Tim Peeler
Hickory, NC