Document Type
Poetry
Abstract
It was 1979 when Paul Query first arrived on DePauw's campus. He was young, ambitious, ready to write, to make friends, to talk politics, to learn the delicacies of poetry and prose. From the beginning, his professors noticed his great potential as a student. He was caring, hard-working, and intent on sculpting his poems, word by word, with the greatest precision.
Query's diligence paid off. In 1983, after graduating from DePauw with a degree in English Composition, he migrated westward to the stubbled hills of Iowa, where he studied for two years at the prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop. Under the guidance of famous American poet, James Galvin, Query finished his first and only manuscript, The Jackhammer Tree, which was highly regarded.
In November of 1987, after a long and tiresome bout with leukemia, Query passed away.
The Jackhammer Tree is, on some level, Query's poetic diary, documenting the beginning stages of his struggle with cancer and call- ing our attention back to the overlooked yet meaningful activities of everyday life. Work, water, sex, sleep, dancing, rain—these are his subjects. "Through the language," Query explains, "I can give [regular experiences] some importance, some emotional value, some meaning. To me, that is really creating."
Nearly twenty years after his death, Query's poetry remains unpublished and, ultimately, unknown. Only a select few friends and family members have kept copies of his original manuscript. It sits in old file cabinets, and in boxes, and in undusted attics, waiting for a set of new and ambitious readers. Quietly, Query is yearning to speak to us, to tell us, to remind us that the objects of this world, however small or bland or boring, are still well-worth remembering.
These excerpts from The Jackhammer Tree were chosen by Evan Nagle and Kyle Sturgeon.
Recommended Citation
Query, Paul '83
(2004)
"First Night,"
A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University: Vol. 18:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/amidwesternreview/vol18/iss1/10