Synopsis
Some of these poems are based on jobs I’ve held, some are based on observation and family lore, while others were inspired by something that I read. The occupation of a door-to-door poetry salesman is totally invented. In childhood, I noticed that my father and other adult males established a social bond upon introduction by asking “what do you do?” or “what line of work are you in?” The question seemed to establish a baseline for validation and trust. Its probably been around as along as we’ve been a species of hunter-gatherers. My father at the time was a revenue agent for the Internal Revenue Service, which had to be a conversation stopper. But it was a career stepping-stone for him, and I’m sure there was a workmanlike routine to it, even with the death threats he received in the North Hollywood office. Before the I.R.S., he flipped burgers at Foster’s Freeze and after that he became an operations manager for an auctioneer. Our neighbor Guy Gordon was a firefighter. Our family friend Mr. Borgeson worked in the grocery business (my grandfather had been a produce clerk at Von’s). Across the street, Mr. Van Spanckeren was a psychiatrist at the Devereux School and Mr. Halleck was a high school basketball coach. This was in an era when men were teachers: Mr. Eyman was a high school welding teacher and Mr. Van Duynwick taught elementary school! I wrote my first occupational poem while helping out half-days at my father’s in-laws printing company, Kimberly Press in Goleta. I was fascinated in 1980 by the linotype operators. I’m sure the high levels of lead exposure would horrify me now. Around that time, I began reading the poems of Philip Levine, who is probably the most lyrical when writing about workers of his native Detroit. This book came about as I prepared to teach a creative writing course, which I titled “Occupational Poetry,” culling your resume for new material. I dove into three manuscripts and found these twenty-one poems. I think the best one of the bunch is “Inside” and I am grateful to my long-time friend and collaborator Dwayne Newton for sharing his experience as a San Francisco firefighter. Our work defines us, and poetry has the potential to define the work. I believe it’s a fair arrangement.
About the Author
A native of Santa Barbara, CA, Jon Obermeyer is a graduate
of Westmont College. He holds the Master of Fine Arts in
Creative Writing degree from the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro, where he served as Associate Poetry Editor of The Greensboro Review and was recognized for excellence by The American Academy of Poets. Jon is the author of eleven books of creative work including "The Reassurance of Ghosts" and "Salsipuedes" (poems), "The Winter Practice" and "Centripetal Force" (short stories), The Low Wire: Meditations on Loss and Creative Restoration (essays), "It Happens That Fast," "Briarcliff," "The Harbor," and "The Guests" (memoir), a writers guide "Myriad: A Poet's Guide to the Writing Life," and he is co-author of "Siren Call SF," a poetry-photography collaboration with San Francisco photographer Dwayne Newton Jon was a finalist for the 2017 James Applewhite Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in North Carolina Literary Review, Northern Virginia Review, The Greensboro Review, Blue Pitcher, Tar River Poetry, the International Poetry Review, Edge of our World, Stroke Connections, Santa Barbara Magazine and Spectrum. He was selected as a Writer in Residence at the Weymouth Center for the Arts in Southern Pines, NC and a featured panelist at the West End Poetry Festival in Carrboro, NC. In his career, he has been a banker, business owner and marketing director, and a business development executive in the fields of advertising technology, regenerative medicine, nanotechnology and digital media. He is the father of two adult daughters and lives in Bethesda, NC near Durham.
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