While browsing the Poetry Foundation’s articles, I uncovered this piece from 2016. Jim Harrison has long been one of my favorites. His success at prose has perhaps caused some to forget or disregard his poetry, but in my mind, he’s always been a poet first.
My recording of “When to Say Goodbye,” which was recently published in Oxidant Engine.
The world will see no more Max Ritvo poems, and for that, I grieve.
Read Helen Vendler’s review of his Four Reincarnations in Poetry. Better yet, read the book. It’ll make you ache.
My poem “When to Say Goodbye,” which was originally written during the August 2015 Tupelo Press 30-30 Challenge, is up at Oxidant Engine.
You might read the poem at Eclectica, where it was published with two companion pieces.
Few essays on writing poetry grab me by the collar, slam me against the wall, and say “Listen, dammit!” But this one did.
Camille Dungy’s words sear through the fog. She tells it slant. She tells it true. She explains how some masters have done it. If you’ve not read her poetry, seek it out. You’re in for a treat. If you have the good fortune to attend a lecture or reading by her, do so. She’s energetic, wise and kind. She knows.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/247926
Originally posted in June 2014.
The Geography of Silence
1. Laundry drooping at midday.
2. She dreams off-key, in pastels.
3. With misunderstanding comes anger.
4. Mata! Mata! Again!
5. Ashes crossing the ocean.
6. Sweat, and the taste of separation.
7. Reaching for past moons, she cries.
8. Death’s shade.
9. Rice.
10. Self-sacrifice, the centered gift.
11. Inward, always. Inward.
“The Geography of Silence” first appeared here in March 2016.
Water Witching, We Hear
The rattle of stalks
along dirt roads,
whispery days
sifting through
parched
light,
you say
patience, my
friend, and again,
patience.
I love these poems and poets for various reasons – technique, beauty of language, intellect, rigor – but mostly, their words burrow into my brain and won’t quit whispering to me…
Jane Hirshfield, “Not Moving Even One Step”
Carolyn Forche, “The Colonel”
Arthur Sze: “Kintsugi”
Antonella Anedda: “A Winter Night in the City”
James Wright: “To the Saguaro Cactus Tree in the Desert Rain”
Camille Dungy, “Association Copy”
Who are your favorites? Link in the comments.
O at the Edges 