For a long time I thought I read a lot--and I did, compared to the people I was an undergrad with, and among my friends while I was a Witness. Then I got to grad school, and even though I was reading more then than I ever had before, I came to realize that I … Continue reading Tracking my Reading
Influences
So I'm paging through my contributor's copy of Measure and I come across this poem titled "Arrival" by Mike Carson. Now, I know nothing about Carson--never even heard of him before this poem, though he's been published in some fine journals--but I can tell you who he's been influenced by, just by reading these lines.The … Continue reading Influences
Seamus Heaney’s "The Forge"
Perhaps the thing I love the most about "The Forge" is the way it drags us back into the earliest reaches of civilization. The blacksmith, after all, was one of the most important members of an agricultural community--he kept horses shod, he kept plows sharp after having cast them in the first place, he was … Continue reading Seamus Heaney’s "The Forge"
Another Poem to Love 