STOGUIDE pages 74-79:Layout 1 10/31/07 6:13 AM Page 78
toblink,myeyeballsfrozerightopenandmyfeetfrozetomyshoes.”Thespeakerhasa
crewofempatheticlisteners;onewoodcutterhasalreadypointedouttheunappealingnature
ofajobwherethewoodcuttersget“fifty,eightydollarsaweekandaherniaeveryday.”
Judevine,aplaybornfromthe Chain Saw Dance,whichDaviddescribesashis“love
poemtothepeopleofWolcott,”focusesoncharacterswhosesituationsandlanguageand
perceptionoftheirworldareclearlyinspiredbyDavid’sownfascinationwithhisfellow
townsfolk.Davidisquicktopointoutthatheisnooptimist,noromanticist.Hisworkinvari-
ablyisshotthroughwithadeliberaterealitythatiscompelling,ifnotunsettling.
Thegrittinessoftengiveswaytotenderness,butoccasionallyitworkstheotherway
around.In Judevine, inataleaboutRaymondandAnn,thereaderissoentrancedwiththe
couple’sownromancewitheachotherandwiththeirlandthatwhentheirgardenisattacked
bymotorcyclists,theexperienceissoheart-wrenchingthereadersharesthecharacters’out-
ragedsorrowandgrief.
Whatholdsthepeopletothesemountains,tothishardscrabblelifeisthethemethatunites
Judevine.AkeenexampleofthisisthestoryofArnie,“emaciated,alwaysdirty,abadactor
andeverybodyknowsit.”
“OnefallwewerecuttingtreesuponElmoreMountainwhencolorwasstillinthehills.
ItwasacleardayandwewereuptowardthetopofthelotlookingoutovertheLamoille
valleyatEdenMountainaboutthirtymilesaway.
That’swhenArnie—ArnietheWretched,theUgly,theStupid,theDrunk,theOutlaw,the
Poor—that’swhenArniesaid:“Lookit‘at.At’swhyIlivehere.”
Andwelookedacrosstheancientgreenandbrownandredandyellowmountainsandthe
skywasblueandsomefleecycloudsandanospreyhuntedtheLamoilleandwestoodthere
whileArnie’snosedrippedandlistenedtothewindslipthroughthesprucetrees.”
Orthere’sDougwhojokesthathe“triesnottoworktoomuchinthewinter,getsinthe
wayofmysnowmachinin’”butwhohasanother
storytotell:“Healwayswantedtogotocollege,
study,getacertificate,beamathteacherina
To learn more about David schoolsomewhere.”
Davidreconstitutedthesestoriesasaplaythat
Budbill and Lois Eby, explore
hastouredthecountryfor20yearsas Judevine,
their websites: www.loiseby.com
with53productionsin23states.Thenationally
acclaimedplay,whichwonSanFrancisco’sBay
and www.davidbudbill.com. AreaCriticsCircleAwardforBestEnsemble
Performancefor1990,camehometoVermont
David’s books are still in print
lastspringtosell-outcrowdsattheLostNation
TheatreinMontpelier.
and Lois’s paintings may be “Ilovetowritecharactersketchesinthefirst
seen at the West Branch Gallery
person.Everythingthatstartsoutautobiographi-
calendsupsomewhereelse.”Theprocessofcre-
on Stowe’s Mountain Road.
atingasomewhatautobiographicalobserverto
helptellthestoriesofthosearoundhimisone
Davidcontinuestopursue,followingtheJudevine
approach.Twocollectionsofpoems(While We’ve
Still Got Feet and Moment to Moment, Poems of a Mountain Recluse)aretoldfromthepoint
ofviewofahermitinthemountains(ashecurrentlyseeshimself)andmaysomedaybefod-
derforaplay.Morerecently,heiswriting Song for My Father—acollectionofmonologues
anddialoguesinspiredbytherelationshipbetweenhimselfandhisagingfatherthat,again,
arelikelytobereworkedasaplay.
Davidwritesofhisfatherinhiscollectionofpoems While We Still Got Feet,remembering
howmuchhisfatherwantedtomovetothecountrybutneverdid.
Before my father died, he’d visit here and sit in the dooryard underneath
the apple tree
Creating abstract paintings
On a summer afternoon with his baby granddaughter on his lap and look out
at the gardens
with a sense of energy and
And to the mountains beyond and say, You really go it, Bud. You really got it.
space through color, shapes
ThegreatpoetWendellBerrywritesthatDavid’svividcharacterssethimapartfromother
and the space around them
poets.“Unlike98percentoflivingAmericanpoets,DavidBudbillhasasubject.His Judevine
is inspired by Lois' interest in
isfulloflovinginterestinotherpeopleand...therealworld.Budbillbothinformsand
physics and astronomy and
movesandheis,inshort,adelightandacomfort.”
her deep conncection with
TheconnectiontonaturethatinspiresLois’spaintingsisoccasionallyreflectedinDavid’s
writing.Inonepoem,publishedin While We’ve Still Got Feet,hestopstolookatthesky.
her natural surroundings.
Suddenly, orange, red, pink, blue, green, purple, yellow, gray all at once
and everywhere.
I pause in this moment at the beginning of my old age and I say a prayer
of gratitude for getting to this everything,
A prayer for being here, today, now, alive in this life, in this evening,
under this sky. a73
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