{"id":575352,"date":"2023-12-12T08:42:41","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T13:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=575352"},"modified":"2023-12-21T09:36:35","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T14:36:35","slug":"humorous-poems-light-verse-satan-talks-to-his-therapist-575352","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/humorous-poems-light-verse-satan-talks-to-his-therapist-575352\/","title":{"rendered":"Provoking and coping through light verse"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Rochester poet \u2018explores the lighter side of dark times\u2019 with her latest collection of poems.<\/h2>\n

Sometimes, procrastination pays off\u2014at least it did for Melissa Balmain.<\/p>\n

Balmain, now an instructor in the Department of English<\/a> at the University of Rochester<\/a>, was writing the book Just Us: Adventures and Travels of a Mother and Daughter<\/em><\/a> (Faber & Faber, 1998) when she learned that two friends from college were writing and sharing short comic poetry via email. Thinking she had discovered a fun way to procrastinate, Balmain contributed a few poems. Then a few more. And some more after that.<\/p>\n

While she did manage to finish her book, she also started a new career as a light-verse poet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always writing some kind of poetry or lyrics, and it was almost always comic,\u201d says Balmain. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t until I was in my 30s that I started writing a lot of comic poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hasn\u2019t stopped writing since. Her latest book, Satan Talks to His Therapist<\/em><\/a> (Paul Dry Books, 2023), \u201cexplores the lighter side of dark times.\u201d Those dark times, described by Balmain as a \u201cdescent to hell,\u201d included climate change, crazy politics, and the modern plague, better known as COVID-19. Yet that descent is followed by a poetic effort to climb out from the depths, albeit with some side trips to Limbo along the way.<\/p>\n

\"Diptych
LET THERE BE LIGHT (VERSE):<\/strong> Melissa Balmain embraced humor and silliness as a coping mechanism and creative fuel, which resulted in more than a few poignant observations that crop up in her latest book. (Photo by Lily FitzPatrick)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMany of us have coped by relishing the good that\u2019s in the world, whether that\u2019s family, great works of art, or humor, even silliness,\u201d says Balmain, who was experiencing some major changes in her personal life, including a looming empty nest. She herself embraced humor and silliness as a both a coping mechanism and creative fuel, which resulted in more than a few poignant observations that crop up in her latest book.<\/p>\n

The collection opens with \u201cOn Looking at an MRI Cross-Section,\u201d a poem juxtaposed with an image from an MRI scan of the author\u2019s brain, one that was taken when Balmain was experiencing unusually severe headaches. While no brain abnormalities were discovered, Balmain nonetheless found the episode \u201ca little bit paralyzing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very good example of seeking humor in a subject that is absolutely terrifying,\u201d says Balmain. \u201cThe scan showed all these objects in my brain. Then I started to think how those freaky objects are the very things generating my poem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Satan Talks to His Therapist<\/em> touches on a wide variety of topics, including Shakespeare, Niagara Falls, donuts, middle age, grief, birdwatching, and pandemic-era masks. Most of the 63 offerings are humorous\u201485 percent by Balmain\u2019s estimation. That should be no surprise, considering how she\u2019s wired. \u201cI discovered pretty early on that if I was being funny, I got people\u2019s attention,\u201d explains Balmain. \u201cIt\u2019s just natural for me to seek the humor in situations, sometimes as a coping mechanism.\u201d<\/p>\n