When Sam Hamill agreed to contribute an original poem to Tricycle for the Fall 2010 issue’s “Dedication of Merit,” I was giddy. First of all, Copper Canyon Press, an all-poetry press that Hamill helped found in 1972, had previously informed me that it would probably be easier to get in touch with him with a physical letter than an email—an idea that amused me and made me nostalgic, but didn’t inspire confidence about connecting. Secondly, when I received his email, I was at Book Expo America at the Javits Center, surrounded by upcoming Buddhist titles and publishing professionals discussing the future of their industry. At that moment in that environment, having just helped facilitate a piece that would be the parting words for the next Tricycle, I thought to myself: Dang, you’re a real magazine man in New York City. It was, of course, just a small taste of a pleasure that Hamill has known for years as an editor and publisher: that of being part of the process that helps put a poem out into the world. Or, as Hamill once said when asked about poets he works with in an interview, “their art is part of my art, and they become part of my daily meditation on poetry.” Read more about Hamill here. OK, without further rambling, please listen to Hamill read his poem aloud. “What’s Mine,” is yours.
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