When Senator Bruce Anderson introduced a bill to name the lyrics to the little-known song, "Minnesota Blue" as state poem, few noted nor long remembered that Minnesota does have a poet laureate (many thought that one veto by former Governor Pawlenty had settled the question) .
Bluestem's editor and young Montevideo poet Josh Preston debated the merits of the lyrics in Shall we pick song lyrics by a Hawaiian music artist for Minnesota's State Poem? No and Yes.
At the time of the bill's introduction, poet laureate Joyce Sutphen, who lives in Chaska while teaching at Gustavus Adolphus, graciously suggested that given Minnesota's fine crop of poets, a better idea might be to have a webpage where readers might savor the abundant poesy in these parts. Bluestem rather liked that idea--especially if more traditional works by poets like Robert Bly and John Berryman could jostle with videos by spoken word artists like Guante and Lioness.
Sutphen served as chaplain on Friday in the Minnesota House. Via The Uptake, here is the poem she read:
Photo:Joyce Sutphen.
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