Tim Peeler and the Life of the Poem
By Mike James
…
Frank Bidart once commented in an interview that an emphasis on voice isn’t fashionable
in contemporary poetry. That idea might go a long way towards explaining the lack of
appreciation for Tim Peeler’s work since Peeler’s poetry is emphatically about southern
voices and southern characters. Peeler is more original than fashionable. He is of the
DIY, autodidact, mountain bred, and baseball referencing, fried bologna school of
American poetry. He is also the only member.
Some books don’t fit into categories. And some poets don’t. For a number of years now,
Tim Peeler has been creating unique, character driven poetry sequences about folks who
are neither proud nor ashamed of their poverty. Peeler doesn’t make a fetish of the blue
collar. Poverty and wealth are just reference points. Economics is part of what defines his
characters, but it is not the whole definition.
The emphasis on character is why Peeler is so hard to categorize. Though he is as
southern as moonshine, pine trees, and molasses, his character-driven writing is closer to
Chekhov than Dickey. He begins and ends with a person in a specific situation. There
may not be a problem to solve, but there is definitely an incident to examine.
There is a texture to Peeler’s poetry which comes from his deep knowledge and
appreciation of vernacular. He can use words like “whatnot” and “fixin” and make them
an integral part of the poem without drawing attention. He is not a flashy poet, but a
subtle one. He draws the reader in and pulls rabbits out of every hat he comes across. He
does this while making the reader care for characters who are often either left out of
poetry or reduced to stereotypes. There are no “types” in Peeler’s poetry. There are only
people.
Many poets are addicted to the idea of the blazing line. They are in love with anthology
pieces. Tim Peeler is not that type of poet. In his work, poetry happens as part of the
everyday. It seems to be dictated from characters at a diner, rather than created by a
solitary individual. This is not to say that the accessibility of Peeler’s sleight-of-hand
poetics is easy. He simply makes it look that way. His poems are as clear as mountain air
and just as easy to take in.
About the Author: Mike James makes his home outside Nashville, Tennessee. He has published in numerous magazines, large and small, throughout the country. His poetry collections include: Leftover Distances (Luchador), Parades (Alien Buddha), Jumping Drawbridges in Technicolor (Blue Horse), and Crows in the Jukebox (Bottom Dog.) In April, Red Hawk published his 20th collection, Portable Light: Poems 1991-2021.
Image Credit: “Craggy mountains and Dome from Rich Mountain, North Carolina, U. S. A.” (1905) public domain image courtesy of the Library of Congress
As It Ought To Be 