In thinking about the Around the World challenge, I decided I’d like to choose books that have a sense of place–preferably the author’s place. It’s strange, though, to think about what actually reveals place when we’re familiar with whatever the place is. Someone told me that pseudophakia had a sense of place for Ohio and, honestly, I couldn’t see it. I’m too close to it to know what’s “Ohioan” about what I write.
In puzzling over it, I decided to write a poem with a strong sense of place, and ended up with “Flyover Country.” I think that poem does say something about this spot, but is it a unique something? Does a sense of place require that it fit only one place, or can it be a type of place that could be found anywhere in the world?
In short, what gives a piece of writing a sense of place? How do we know it when we see it?
This link is almost weirdly apt:
THE CURIOUS GRAMMAR OF OHIO: THE LOCAL COLOR ILLUSION
Or at least I don’t know how apt it is to your poems, but you get the point.
Local Color Illusion. That’s a perfect description of why I wonder what counts as “place.” This place or any place?