LEAST RESISTANCE by Larry Gavin (Audio Clip)

After Reading Tu Fu I Go Off To Catch Rough Fish In the Cannon River

"The river carries off the moon
To set beyond the border." Tu Fu

Together, carp gather like shadows in the slack
current-moving like dark thoughts through
the moon's shadow. We are joined by a line
the exact thickness of desire: a line that stretches
into current moving below the surface in ways
only the moon understands; pulled by its fullness
to extremes that become more than only the Cannon
River. That become all rivers stretching the borders
of what I know for a fact to be true. In the settling
darkness-me, the moon, this carp all balance on
the sudden edge of daylight and dark. All the while
doing my best to stay connected.
When the fish
comes to hand in the shallows, offering itself
like the answer to some question that I don't
recall asking, I handle it gently. Then let it go.

-Larry Gavin, from Least Resistance

My first sightings of Larry were in a couple of literature classes I taught at Southwest Minnesota State University. Twenty-five years later, the Gavins are still friends of the Mohrs. I don't want to go overboard with sentiment here, but it has been a pretty good deal so far. Although I have an ironclad rule about not doing blurbs, some of the clad rusted through when my guard was down. I'm happy to do it, really, it's not a problem. Larry is a fine writer of all sorts of things that are a delight to read, and that includes his poetry. He is a good-hearted fellow, and a wry observer of this world we all try to live in. At the same time Larry is-as he always has been-a man of mystery. He's gonna get me for saying that here, but I thought you should know.
-Howard Mohr
author of How to Talk Minnesotan

Larry Gavin was born and raised in Austin, Minnesota. He grew up influenced by the great Austin poet Richard Eberhart and the union workers of Local P-9 from whom he learned the value of honest work that continues to inform, not only the themes of his poetry, but also its cadences. He was educated in Minnesota, receiving a degree in Literature and Creative Writing at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, were he was schooled in writing by the Universitys' outstanding faculty. He later earned a master's degree from the Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont.

Gavin has worked as a bridge builder, farm laborer, policeman, gambler, historical site guide, pipeline worker, newspaper reporter, machinist, and currently as a field editor for Midwest Fly Fishing Magazine and a teacher.

He lives in Faribault, Minnesota, with his wife Patty, his son Fergus, a small pack of beagles, and a Springer spaniel bird dog named L.C.

The following audio clip is from The Moe Green Poetry Hour hosted by Rafael F. J. Alvarado and Corrie Greathouse, March 5th, 2008. Larry Gavin read with poets Harvey Shapiro and Philip Metres---click the above link to listen to the entire show and explore the archives of the Moe Green Poetry Hour.