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Hey There,
It’s National Poetry Month, which reminds me that I haven’t been reading enough poetry. In the past, I’ve exchanged favorite poems with friends, sometimes over beers at bars. If you have any you want to share with me, send them my way. Here are a few poets (and their poems) I’ve enjoyed over the years:
There’s M.L. Smoker, a member of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Montana's Fort Peck Reservation, and the co-poet laureate for Montana between 2019 and 2021. We took a graduate class together from the brilliant late poet professor Patricia Goedicke, and Smoker’s writing was haunting and gorgeous even then, and continues to be, like in “Equilibrium,” which begins: “After child after child after child, no one believes in the cacophony of sirens anymore.”
Then there’s Jim Harrison, whose short poem “Barking” ends with a swift clunk of liberation. And finally, Aliyah Cotton’s “Plastic Bag from the Corner Store Laments the Self,” which is a fun poem, playing with the odd and funny idea of a fully conscious plastic bag, but ends up being startlingly emotional.
If you’re looking for some poetry activities, check out the Missoula Writing Collaborative’s First Friday Reception at the Missoula Public Library to enjoy the works of MWC students and participate in a poetry madlib (everyone loves a madlib!)
Thinking about poetry made me think about the term “poetic justice” (not the 1993 romantic thriller starring Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur and Regina King). There is a certain poetic justice at the center of the new Netflix three-part docu-series “The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping.” Here’s a breakdown of the series:
The student becomes the filmmaker: Filmmaker Katherine Kubler is a former student at the long-shuttered Academy at Ivy Ridge, who, along with other former students, visits the abandoned academy where the mountains of files littering the floor help them substantiate the institution’s tactics of psychological and physical abuse.
The bigger story includes Montana: “The Program” is focused on Ivy Ridge—located in St. Lawrence County, New York—at first, but soon, Kubler zooms out to reveal the billion-dollar industry behind troubled teen programs across the world, including the now-shuttered Spring Creek Lodge in Thompson Falls, Montana. She interviews a Montana lawyer who has been investigating the conduct of these schools, including the death of a student.
Blink and you’ll miss it: An image of a news article about Spring Creek Lodge from the former Missoula Independent, written by Montana Free Press founder John S. Adams, back in his early reporter days.
The aftermath: “The Program” has only been streaming since last month, but it has already prompted dozens of new complaints by former students, opened up a fresh investigation from St. Lawrence County’s DA’s office, and has led to some former Ivy Ridge staff being put on leave from their current jobs, based on accusations against them.
It’s a riveting, artistically rendered documentary in which an emerging journalist lays out some extremely disturbing, totally documented abuse allegations with boldness and humor. Holding power to account is important in journalism. With storytelling from Kubler, who was once at the complete mercy of Ivy Ridge staff, it’s a very satisfying flipping of the script.
Happy First Friday!
Cheers,
Erika Fredrickson |
