I didn’t know C.K. “Charlie” Williams well. I was lucky enough to have spent time with him on several occasions and he was always very nice to me. Tar was an important book for me because it showed me how the long line might function in those poems of
mine that tend toward the narrative. He led the sort of poet’s life I admire and work toward. As an editor, Charlie was one who got away. In my stints as an editor here and at Kestrel, I never did manage to get work from him. I asked him back in 2010. He emailed me back to say that he thought the Congeries was impressive and that he would keep it in mind for the future, but that particular future never came. This month’s Congeries is dedicated to Charlie.