Poetry Reading with A.M. Juster

            Around mid-afternoon on March 23^rd, a quaint crowd gathered at Hayden Library in anticipation of A.M. Juster’s poetry reading. Juster, whose identity was disclosed in 2010, is a lawyer by day, having served as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, and a poet and translator by night.

            His poetry is classified as “formalist”, much of which was influenced by his translations from Latin, as well as common situations in people’s everyday lives.

            To start off, Juster took the audience to the 4^th century A.D. south of France as he recited his translation of “To a Painter of Echo” by Ausonius. The last two lines of the poem were beautiful and telling: “I am Echo—I live within your ears. / If you believe you can paint me, paint sound.” Juster himself used this poem to inspire his original, “Note from Echo”.

In his retelling of the Roman myth, Narcissus and Echo, Juster portrays their relationship in the world of the 21^st century: “We are the voicemail’s ponderous reply / to the computers making random calls . . .” This recreation of the myth was fresh, creative, and beautifully written. He later recited original poetry inspired by everyday  circumstances.

In his poem, “Your Midlife Crisis”, he stole some chuckles from the audience with his lines, “We liked you better when you were lost” and “Scum always rises to the top”. Juster’s poetic voice is witty yet honest. One of his “political” poems called, “A Stern Warning to Canada” is quite literally one line: “If you want peace, control your geese.” As he reads, his expression remains stoic. A true poet, in my opinion, lets his audience figure out the sarcasm from the seriousness. Through rhymes and seamless metrical patterns, Juster’s poetry is feel-good and amusing, and other times grave and earnest. His poetry draws people of all ages and genre preferences.

Near the end of the reading, it was time for audience participation. Juster read one of his translations of Horace’s riddles and gave us a clue: “It is an Anglo-Saxon symbol for hell.” After reading the riddle a couple of times, he hinted that Harry Potter fans should be able to answer it correctly. One person shouted out, “Pitchfork?” I myself guessed, “Lake of fire?” The answer? Cauldron. The audience sighed. Of course! The clues were all there in the riddle itself.

I spoke briefly to A.M. Juster after the reading, telling him that I myself studied four years of Latin but haven’t picked it up since. The translator himself confessed that he picked up Latin after approximately twenty years and encouraged me that a couple refresher courses is all it takes to pick up where one has left off. It was inspiring meeting a man of great intelligence and many endeavors.

            Juster’s passion for ancient texts resonates through his poetry and the manner with which he reads them. The diverse genres and themes made the reading a beautiful and unforgettable experience for all who attended. We greatly appreciate A.M. Juster for spending three days with us here at ASU.

by Rafaella Safarian