Notebook Entries

In Goedicke's September 11, 2002 entry, she writes of the "huge task of revising...all these great lolling poem excuses."  Among the poems Goedicke was working on around this time were "Night Notes," "Cloud Chamber and Circumference," and "This Music Has Holes in It."  Specifically, she writes "I've got to get off that damn "out there" phrase which seems to come up in practically every poem I write."  In these poems, Goedicke attempts to explore how what is beyond our knowledge and control impacts our understanding of the world (see Merriam Award Ceremony section).  "Out there" is an attempt to articulate, however vague, events and forces that are not directly perceived nor controllable.

Looming in the background of these drafts is the one year anniversary of September 11th and a debate regarding war with Iraq.  As the likelihood of war increased, so to did the likelihood of the human toll that would accomapny the war.  Death, which is a force that is typically defined as "out there" beyond one's control, is a topic that many of the poems in The Baseball Field at Night invite.

September 10, 2002 entry(first four pages)

September 11, 2002 entry