"Stars Seen in Person: Selected Journals" by John Wieners
"Stars Seen in Person: Selected Journals" by John Wieners
May 29, 2023
A poet's journal is always interesting because it looks into the poet's mind, and one can trace the thinking pattern in what makes their work or writing happen. Or, in some cases, it does not occur. It's extraordinary to come upon this book because my dad, Wallace Berman, is mentioned in its pages - both in the introduction as well as in John Wieners's journal. At the time of writing the "Stars Seen in Person: Selected Journals" journal, he was staying with us in Beverly Glen. So like a phantom, my dad does make an appearance, but in the mind of Wieners, it becomes a figure of importance, but alas, a faint mist.
The poetry/writing of John Wieners is very romantic. For instance, when he writes about his surroundings in Boston or Manhattan, it reads highly glamorous. The city was not made for citizens to live in but for poets to comment on. The urban landscape becomes something else in the hands of a poet. John was (or is) a fantastic poet. He had an incredible eye for detail - in the sense that he was a great sketch artist capturing an image, but he would do it with words. The journals in this book (four of them) are sometimes a diary, in a very loose narrative, or straight-ahead poetry. Sometimes a combination of the two - a narration as poetry. Nevertheless, he captures angst in his words, and some of it is painful to read, specifically about his one female lover (John was gay) and the child that didn't happen. Reading the unhappiness, I almost wanted to skip this part of the journal, but alas, the pain or his enormous presence on the page keeps the reader going.
In its simplicity, I love the last part of the journal, where he mentions a celebrity and where he saw that person. For instance:
"George Sanders
passing in Cadillac."
"Peter Lorre outside upper
Times Square Theatre"
The name that captured my attention in this section is Dean Stockwell and Bobby Driscoll, who were not only actors but very close friends to my dad, and I have to imagine John knew them as well. Interestingly, he put them in the "Stars Seen in Person" category.
A beautiful book, with excellent editing from Michael Seth Stewart and a personal preface by Ammiel Alcalay, who met Wieners as a teenager. On a personal note, John Wieners was also my babysitter. Having a poet/babysitter is a seductive quality for a future writer/publisher.