I first came across E. E. Cummings in high school, like many people have, and he had an immediate effect on me. He was so different from the rest of the stuff I'd been reading in my classes that he shook me to the core, and made me want to write poetry just like his. … Continue reading since feeling is first
So, new project
As if I don't already have enough on my plate, I've started this, titled "Helen Webster's Diary." Helen Webster is, I believe, a great grandmother of mine, who was a teenager in the 1890s. Beyond that, I know nothing. My grandmother's sister (great-aunt? I can never keep these things straight) found this diary probably ten … Continue reading So, new project
Review at Rattle
Back in the old times, before I was the poetry editor at The Rumpus (what do you mean it's only been a month?), I wrote a review of Carole Simmons Oles' book Waking Stone for Rattle Magazine. Here's a taste:Waking Stone by Carole Simmons Oles, published by the University of Arkansas Press, doesn’t have any … Continue reading Review at Rattle
Happy Belated Birthday, Mr. Stegner
Timothy Egan notes in the NY Times that yesterday was Wallace Stegner's 100th birthday. I must confess that I learned more about Stegner in that column than I did in the two years I held a fellowship he helped found and which carried his name, so let me make up for it by thanking his … Continue reading Happy Belated Birthday, Mr. Stegner
Shameless self promotion
The official awards page is up for the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prizes, and I'm on the list. It's a poem that grew out of my visit to see my daughter graduate from high school last year, so that makes it feel a little more special.Congrats to everyone who won, particularly to my personal friends Alison … Continue reading Shameless self promotion
Rumpus Time
My review of Dan Albergotti's The Boatloads just went up at The Rumpus. Here's a taste:I have a special place in my heart for literature that juxtaposes the sacred and profane, that challenges perhaps the most successful meme ever to spring from the human brain: the belief that God is unwaveringly good.That’s the matter at … Continue reading Rumpus Time
New Piece up at The Rumpus
I've had my ass handed to me so many times when I write about poetry that I'm a little gun-shy, but for some unknown reason, I've written a piece about Elizabeth Alexander's "Praise Song for the Day" over at The Rumpus. Here's a taste.As a poet, I appreciate the gesture made toward the arts when … Continue reading New Piece up at The Rumpus
I love Julia Alvarez
I've liked her poetry for a long while, but I especially love what she's done with the AP's request for an inaugural poem. I've written before about my problems with Frost's poem for Kennedy, and it shouldn't be a surprise that I wasn't alone. Alvarez voiced many of the same reservations, though in a far … Continue reading I love Julia Alvarez
W. D. Snodgrass, 1926-2009
W. D. Snodgrass died yesterday at his home in upstate New York. I can't say I know a lot of his work. I've only taught a poem or two of his in the past, but I can say that I recognize a bit of myself in his poem "April Inventory". I'm a bit older than … Continue reading W. D. Snodgrass, 1926-2009
Poetic Lives Online: Random Poetry Links
The following is a new feature I'll be doing every week for The Rumpus. I'll be cross-posting them here in the hopes that I might actually do some po-blogging of my own, instead of focusing so much on Incertus. Thanks to Stephen Elliott for giving me the shot.With the inauguration of Barack Obama swiftly approaching … Continue reading Poetic Lives Online: Random Poetry Links
Another Poem to Love 