Entries include letters on Farmington State College stationery, poems written by Gilley and his wife together and separately, and a biography.  Date range: 1970-04/1970-0

Gilley, Daima Turner, 1926-2000

Gilley, Leonard B., 1929-

Jacob, Hilda McLeod

Turner, Daima, 1926-2000

English

Maine State Documents (Maine State Library)

Maine State LibraryMaine State DocumentsMaine Writers Correspondence Maine State Library Special Collections7-9-2014Leonard B. Gilley CorrespondenceLeonard B. Gilley 1929-Daima Turner 1926-2000Daima Turner Gilley 1926-2000Hilda McLeod JacobMaine State LibraryFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalmaine.com/maine_writers_correspondenceThis Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Maine State Library Special Collections at Maine State Documents. It has been accepted forinclusion in Maine Writers Correspondence by an authorized administrator of Maine State Documents. For more information, please contactstatedocs@maine.gov.Recommended CitationGilley, Leonard B. 1929-; Turner, Daima 1926-2000; Gilley, Daima Turner 1926-2000; and Jacob, Hilda McLeod, "Leonard B. GilleyCorrespondence" (2014). Maine Writers Correspondence. 37.http://digitalmaine.com/maine_writers_correspondence/37GILLEY, LEONARD B. April 14, 1970 Professor Leonard B. Gilley Farmington Maine Olj.938 Dear Professor Gilley: Some few months ago we noticed an announcement of the publication of your book of poems, with the striking title HIPPOPOTAMUS AND FLOWERS. We hoped that we would see further information ~ publisher and price, for instance — but we must have missed these details. Can you tell us? We want to note it in the Bulletin of the Maine Library Association, but we do need complete information. We also want to mention the Maine Author Collection, a permanent exhibit of books by Maine writers. Most of these volumes are inscribed presentation copies, and make a most interesting and valuable collection. We are always delighted when we can welcome a new author, and we hope that you may want to inscribe and present a copy of your book of poems for this purpose. Our good wishes go to you for its success. Sincerely yours hmj In Charge of Maine Author Collection F A R M I N G T O N  S T A T E  C O L L E G E  O F  T H E  U N I V E R S I T Y  O F  M A I N E  F A R M I N G T O N ,  M A I N E  0 4 9 3 8  ^ a s .  ) < n o  3) | -jU^ ^ )jMh' . ,5 c^ vM- •Aft°~AA^  SUsf OS-^ ML, — j^ ~ syo^ ) °^ UL jf^-tL i&Ly, Jdu$r <K sjl****-! J • (XJUtCtU^d. Co~p±M, <y^£- br^la*- ^LA^ -June 18, 1970 Professor Leonard B. Gilley Department of English Farmington State College Farmington, Maine 01+938 Dear Professor Gilley: Your light-hearted generosity is delightful, and we are happy to acknowledge the gift of the several copies of HIPPOPOTAMUS AND FLOWERS. The imagery and imagination, and power and humor, which are evident in these lines are indeed refreshing. A copy goes into the Maine Author Collection, and of course one into the general section of the library. Sometime, perhaps you will be kind enough to let us have a little biographical material? Meanwhile, thank you very much for HIPPOPOTAMUS AND FLOWERS. Sincerely yours In Charge of Maine Author Collection July 28, 1970 Professor Leonard Gilley Department of English Farmington State College Farming ton, Maine Olj.938 Dear Professor Gilley: Thank you for the biographical information and the new poems, and congratulations on the acceptance by the Kansas City Times. The way of a poet if often slow, isn't it? Probably we should have known, or surmised, that you were originally form Hancock County, because of your name. Apparently a strong creative streak runs in the Gilley family. We recall Wendell Gilley, for instance. Congratulations on the promotion, too. Sincerely yours hmj In Charge of Maine Author Collection PICNIC -written 7/23/70 o by Leonard Gilley After the picnic on the ledges We gathered the wreckage-** Boiled*red lobster shells, white Inside, feathery underbelly Stained green, clam shells, Cut and squeezed lemons, limes, Corn-cobs -silk -husks and so on. We poured the mess into a large, Yellow, plastic sack we had purchased From a laundromat vending-Machine. The moon had already popped up, Floated over the oceanj cold and fog Drifted landward. We deposited The gigantic sack of debris in the trunk Of the car, added wood to the fire, Pulled on sweaters. The ritual singing Began. I thought of Robert Lowell, American poet, slightly westward from here, Sitting before the fireplace In his Castine summerhome, oracle-like Turning a martini-glass in his hand. PICNIC page 2 The next line begins a new stanza. As the others sang* I thought Of Lowell's Notebook 1967-68 that I# Confined by rain, had read the day before Yesterday in the local public library. Early in the book, Lowell mentioned New Orleans and a ceiling fan dripping-wetj I remembered all the huge fans. Almost shaking the earth, that I had seen In New Orleans and all the ice for drinks And swimming pools loaded with people. In New Orleans that summer only A single old man whom I knew of, An importer of fruit, "The Banana King," Running toward ninety years, was cold, Had a robe over his knees and a fire Crackling in the fireplace. The surf beat in, cold air. Lights Were blinking out to sea. Surely "The Banana King" was dead by now and Buried, well-rotted, and his heirs Had carved his fortune, purchased Air-conditioning, even traveled to Maine, Yankee-land, for the cool foggy summers. PICNIC page 3 The next line begins a new stanza. Agamemnon, arrogant Achaian, crept too Into Lowell's Notebook dream. Agamemnon slew readily and in turn Was slainj he returned triumphant From the destruction of Troy and his wife Stabbed him in his bath, tamed him Indeed! . . . The long-ago songs ("Show me the way to go home. I'm tired and I want to go to bed.") Dwindled, stopped, were replaced By the metallic pop and pull of beer cans Being opened. My wife thrust A tall Schlitz into my hand and settled Beside me. Sing she whispered. Sing. Muse Homer wrote. Sing, Lowell--Your work is good. Twirl the martini Glass and sing. I drank a long slug Of the cold, foaming-over beer. Someone Threw a log on the fire, scattering embers. T. S. Eliot wrote of Agamemnon too--For example, "Sweeney Among The Nightingales," Circuit of music rolling around stars. In fact, I thought, everyone seems to have Written about Agamemnon, and even a few lines About the Apenecked Sweeney, Banana King. Sing on, Lowell, for God's sake, singl —30— F A R M I N G T O N  S T A T E  C O L L E G E  O F  T H E  U N I V E R S I T Y  O F  M A I N E  FARMINGTON, MAINE 04938 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH SHRUBS by Leonard Gilley accepted 7/6/70 editorial page Kansas City Tiroes Shrubs, evergreen, appear in the night To be tumbleweeds caught in stillness, Crayoned in black this time, And smudged indefinite. The landscape seems black-ceramic Whirled here and there With patterns of magnetic iron. Dear Mrs. Jacob, Thanks very much for your generous response to H & Flowers. I'm trying to become an important American poet. I've been writing for ten years. Perhaps in ten more I'll be recognized! Enclosed is a bio sheet, and poems written July 5, 1970, by my wife (Daima Turner Gilley) and myself. We have three children--Anne, 6{ Amy, 5; Thomas, 3. I was born at the spital in Ellsworth, grew up in Southwest Harbor. I served in the US Army, Europe. I believe in my country. In September, 1970, I'll be Professor of English here at Farmington (a promotion subject to trustee approval this suramer--luckily it doesn't have to go on referendum!). July 7, 1970 Sincerely, Leonard Gil Names Leonard GLlley Educationi B.A. Bowdoln College 1951 Government M.A. Johns Hopkins University 1961 Creative Writing Ph.D. University of Denver 1966 English Teachings Farmington State College 1968-Bloomsburg State College 1967-68 University of Denver 1962*67 Washington College 1961*62 Johns Hopkins University 1960-61 Publications s Essays in MIDWEST QUARTERLY and PRAIRIE SCHOONER. HIPPOPOTAMUS AND FLOWERS, book of poems. CONFESSIONS AND EXPERIMENTS, anthology of poems. LAWYER NEAD AND OTHER POEMS, pamphlet of poems. Individual poems in NEW YORK TIMES, KANSAS CITY TIMES, SUNDAY DENVER POST. SOUTHWEST TIMES RECORD, SOUTHWEST REVIEW, PRAIRIE SCHOONER, MIDWEST QUARTERLY, CHRISTIAN CENTURY, AMERICAN WEAVE, WORMWOOD REVIEW, VERB, CARAVAN, DESCANT, GWs THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE, NEW LANTERN CLUB REVIEW, DUST, GOLDEN CIRCLE, NEW HAMPSHIRE PROFILES, GATO, BALL STATE FORUM, MAINE DIGEST, NEW CAMPUS REVIEW, THE GOLIARDS, POET (INDIA), FINE ARTS DISCOVERY, LAUREL REVIEW, CIMARRON REVIEW, THE SMALL POND, MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM, THE MIRROR--FARMINGTON STATE COLLEGE, MAINE TIMES, THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSLETTER (AUGUSTA). FOR THIS IS SUNDAY MORNING by Leonard Gilley For this is Sunday morning and the frontdoor stands ajar--The preacher with his head like a freshscrubbed skull Offered on an outstretched hand will be with us presently For coffee and crullers before the Service--caffeine And sugar tinkering in the blood toward the unscrolling Of a great sermon, ha! ha! ha! Yes, here he is now hurrying up the walk dressed in his Sunday best, boots gleaming, generous grin. At the door ajar I say Good morning Reverend Hlndhead (that really is his name--I*d change it if it were mine), so good of vou to come. The coffee is piping and mv wife fried crullers last night. The children, well-dressed and -mannered, sit in a semicircle Of sofas and chairs and after grace, my wife pours the coffee And our eldest hands around the cruller-platter. And, bless The good Lord Himself, how those crullers vanish down Hindhead's Throat--and the coffee flows into his grin as if bulwarking A small infinity! 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF MAINE by Daima Turner A float, and a float and a float--One--covered with Artificial flowers spelling Hope* Faith and Godi Another--A truckload of bleating lambs Facing a 4-H boy chopping a lamb-shank With a crimsoned knife--Children, mothers, proud men Waving flags-Next, an antique car With an old gentleman, face Ashen, dressed in black in black, Holding a golden cane--We wave--we too, We push the young ones (still 90 years to live) to qualify For the great golden cane--We push them to salute The antique carl -Why?" they ask. "Why?" Another floati A clever builder selling bungalows Squirts water from a hose Hidden inside a mobile outhouse. The State Troopers* boots gleam, Traffic piles up, Sun x-rays maple leaves onto The Indian band drumming In worn shiny costumes--blue eyes Framed with heavy paint, flesh--flesh abundant--The Baptist Church launches Faith, Hope, God Into the fairground, dusty To sell polished apples and pickled Eggs adorned with toiletpaper roses. The golden-caned man babbles Alone on an opened folding-chair. We chew Maine barbecued chicken, laugh, Wipe sweat, salty, into papernapkins Embossed with lobster-designs. It was good of us to come! * 

Leonard B. Gilley Correspondence

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Leonard B. Gilley Correspondence

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