That is not to say that Gay’s language is cluttered or imprecise. Poets and creative writers from the modern workshop era - in which writers are often encouraged to hone, cut and pare down language - will likely recognize that the tumbling excess and meanderings of Gay’s language is different. Gay even produces “a bowl of blackberries from the garden,” and just as quickly as he conjures that sweetness, he gives it away to us, saying, “I picked them just for you.” After all, Gay takes us to “the realest place” he knows: a community garden in Indiana.
spooned honey into it.” In those lines, the poem becomes an offering rather than a purely performative act. He has come here “to holler.” However, rather than spectators to an onstage slam performance, Gay’s reading situates us as visitors in his home, sitting on “the corduroy couch put on.” He even thanks us, the listeners, “for staying here with me / for moving your lips just so as I speak.” He gives us “a cup of tea. Gay reads in a voice that is proclamatory, resonant and clear. Yet, “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” resists categorization as spoken word poetry or contemporary music - perhaps because gratitude requires a new form. In fact, the drone-filled music behind “Catalog” echoes Vernon’s cover of Van Etten’s “Love More,” cementing Gay’s track as a true complement to Jagjaguwar’s well-curated lineup of indie music. “Catalog” comes as the first track of Jagjaguwar’s newly released 25th anniversary record “ Dilate Your Heart.” Indie diehards may know Jagjaguwar as the label backing artists like Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen and, of course, Justin Vernon, frontman of Bon Iver. The result of this collaboration between an acclaimed poet and indie star is a profoundly joyful treatise on what it means to live life consciously and appreciatively. Set against a shimmering soundscape by Bon Iver, Gay performs the titular poem from his widely-lauded 2015 book. “Friends,” Ross Gay addresses listeners in the first seconds of “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude.” With that, he welcomes us into a poetic orchard where he cultivates thanks for both the mundane and tragic experiences that make us human.
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