By Stanley Kunitz
I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
set in an unshaded box:
July
By Stanley Barkan
The following is one in a series of 12 poems about the months.
Now the summer butterflies have come
like poppies in procession
in the cemetery of youth,
all the long stretch of children's caskets
laid out in their cerements of innocence.
Around the black granite stones
-- etched with finger-touching hands --
the clouds of white wings fluttering.
All the rent garments of the wailing mourners,
All the ashes fallen from the still detached sky.
And the milkweed flourishing
Along the paths of passing glory.
There in the sun-covered fields of first things,
I sought my way through the glistening questions
hidden in the cobwebs set to trap the seeker.
Now, in the fullness of seeds
grown to fruits of promise,
only pits and pebbles remain to place
upon the makers monumenting memory.
pt hed: Publishing the world
Drophead: Merrick's Cross Cultural Communications celebrates 35 years
By Scott Brinton
Stanley Barkan cups his right hand, raises it to the dim light hung in the center of his country kitchen and slowly turns it in fluid arcs, pretending to inspect a precious stone.
With a Shakespearean actor's flair, the longtime Merrick resident remarks, "If a gem has 30 facets and you hold it up to the light, it breaks down into" colors, "which reveal layers, the essence of existence, mankind's journey on the planet."
The 68-year-old Barkan is, of course, speaking metaphorically. As a poet of the first order, he's prone to doing that. The gem that he talks so fondly of is a poem. If written well, Barkan believes, poems teach us lessons about life and our place in the universe.
"We were put on this earth to be part of the creative power," Barkan says. "How do we do that? By being creative ourselves."
Barkan is more than a poet, though. He taught poetry for many years in the New York City public schools, and in 1991 he was named the city's Poetry Teacher of the Year. He retired 14 years ago, which has given him plenty of time for Cross Cultural Communications, the bilingual publishing house that he runs with his artist wife, Bebe, out of their Spanish-style home. Bebe, who serves as CCC's art director, has illustrated many of the couple's books.
Cross Cultural Communications, which specializes in poetry and short story collections, celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2005. The Barkans are planning a poetry extravaganza at the Russian Samovar in Manhattan on Sunday, Sept. 11. The program will span seven hours of poetry readings by 28 renowned literati.
Barkan purposely chose Sept. 11 as the date for CCC's fete. The Barkans started their publishing house with an ideal in mind: sharing literature and art among nations helps foster world peace. For many, Sept. 11 now symbolizes hatred, terror and human devolution. He wanted to take the day back by celebrating the power of creativity.
"We're here; we're alive," Barkan says. "We're going on with a celebration. We are for life."
Over the years, CCC has published the works of more than 300 poets and writers. They include such luminaries as Isaac Asimov, Allen Ginsberg and Pablo Neruda. But for Barkan, his good friend Stanley Kunitz shines brightest in this constellation of great wordsmiths.
Kunitz -- a Harvard graduate, retired Columbia professor and Pulitzer Prize winner -- served as poet laureate of the Library of Congress in 2000. Born in Worcester, Mass., he was a founder of the Fine Arts Works Center in Provincetown, Mass. In 1993, President Clinton awarded him the National Medal of the Arts. He is also a winner of Harvard's Centennial Medal, among numerous other accolades.
One honor, however, has alluded Kunitz -- the Nobel Prize, considered by many to be literature's greatest achievement. For years, Barkan has lobbied hard to get Kunitz a Nobel, furiously publishing his poetry in as many languages as he can. The more languages in which Kunitz's works appear, the more his international reputation grows, giving him a better shot at the Nobel.
But the odds are against Kunitz, who turns 100 on July 29. Anti-Americanism runs rampant across Europe these days, Barkan says. So, he believes the Royal Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel in literature, isn't likely to pick a poet as vehemently American as Kunitz.
Still, Barkan persists. Right now he is working with a Bulgarian artist, Stoyan Tchoukanov, better known in the art world as "Tchouki," to produce 26 limited editions of 10 Kunitz poems in English and French. Tchouki masterfully crafted color lithographs to illustrate the poetry.
The books are large, measuring 17 by 22 inches. Tchouki and Barkan recently breezed into Manhattan to meet with Kunitz so he could sign each of the books. The lithographs will be displayed with Kunitz's poems at Tchouki's studio in Switzerland. Barkan is also publishing Kunitz's signature poem, "The Layers." The work will appear in 30 languages in a single edition.
Barkan funds CCC books in two ways. He might team up with a publishing house in another country. In exchange for international rights, the foreign publisher pays Barkan's production costs. Or he receives grants. The Korea Literature Translation Institute in Seoul recently awarded Barkan a grant to publish the works of two Koreans -- Yang Guija, a poet and novelist; and Yun Humyong, a short-story writer.
Last Friday evening, Barkan was fast approaching his deadline to have the English/Korean editions complete to send to the printer. But his translators -- one in Berkeley, Calif., the other in Yokohama, Japan -- weren't cooperating. One argued with Barkan about grammar; the other was missing deadlines. But the two Korean writers' books had to get to the printer by Monday to be ready for the Frankfurt Book Fair in September. If they weren't published in time for the fair, Barkan would have to return the grant money, of which he'd already spent a considerable portion.
Such are the dangers of running an international, small-press publishing house. But Barkan, who makes no money from CCC, doesn't mind. For him, it's an adventure, which he feels most fortunate to share with Bebe. "She's the most talented person in this house," says Barkan. "She's more than my better half. She's my better three-quarters."
Bebe smiles. "We're a good team," she says.
Barkan has set a goal for Cross Cultural Communications: to publish literature in 100 languages during his lifetime. Thus far, CCC is up to 50. "Writing poetry, publishing poetry, is a fine madness," he says with a laugh.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
