March 5, 2011 (I was 65)
The kind of poems I most appreciate…
detail moments in the distant past
more real than all of yesterday:
Stanley Kunitz, “Portrait”
acknowledge the private inner existence that creates
every individual:
Stephen Dunn, “A Secret Life”
recognize the elements of the atmosphere to create
the import of the message before the reader suspects it:
Gary Snyder, “Hay for the Horses”
distill the original images and notions from which aspects
of complex ideas and knowledge were formed or first realized:
Heather McHugh, “Place Where Things Got”
follow the threads of information back and forth
until you have the whole cloth and feel smart wearing it:
Robert Pinsky, “Shirt”
demonstrate how our clumsy inability to act can lead us
to the correct non-action:
Stephen Dunn, “At the Smithville Methodist Church”
speak directly in conversational tone and reveal purpose
when I didn’t know there was one:
Paul Zimmer, “What Zimmer Would Be”;
Karl Shapiro, “Garage Sale”
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