: I've been away for a while, and was delighted to read this poem. �I'm just floored by the style of it; how it can somehow be so disarmingly direct without seeming simplistic. �Really beautiful.
I am glad to see that someone liked it enough to comment. Thanks for that. I came across the poem as an insert in an article by Billy Collins for The Chronicle. All of his books have their points, but I think the most recent, entitled "Picnic, Lightning" is the best. It is named after a parenthetical moment in Nabokov's "Lolita," which reads: "My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three." If you liked this poem, you will love this book.
: Have you ever read anything by a poet name Paul Violi? �<snip> For example, he has published a poem called something like "Errata and Corrections" at the end of one of his books, which instructs the reader to go back and change some words from earlier poems into totally different ones, which have far-reaching effects.
I have not read Violi, but now I will. He sounds interesting, not silly at all from where I sit.
:Any other suggestions? �I'll have to check out Billy Collins...
Yes, check him out, or buy. Collins is currently Poet Laureate, but don't let that stop you. He seems to wear the title lightly. A few other living poets (and one title each) that I recommend:
Albert Goldbarth, "Heaven and Earth, a Cosmology"
Amy Gerstler, "The True Bride"
Christopher Howell, "Sweet Afton" and "Though Silence: The Ling Wei Texts."
As with a list of music recommendations, I could make this post as long as a phone book, but I'll stop there. I would love to know what poets you or others recommend.
Thanks Scott!
Herring405
Re: A poem I like
H
Herring405
(view)
: I've been away for a while, and was delighted to read this poem. �I'm just floored by the style of it; how it can somehow be so disarmingly direct without seeming simplistic. �Really beautiful.
I am glad to see that someone liked it enough to comment. Thanks for that. I came across the poem as an insert in an article by Billy Collins for The Chronicle. All of his books have their points, but I think the most recent, entitled "Picnic, Lightning" is the best. It is named after a parenthetical moment in Nabokov's "Lolita," which reads: "My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three." If you liked this poem, you will love this book.
: Have you ever read anything by a poet name Paul Violi? �<snip> For example, he has published a poem called something like "Errata and Corrections" at the end of one of his books, which instructs the reader to go back and change some words from earlier poems into totally different ones, which have far-reaching effects.
I have not read Violi, but now I will. He sounds interesting, not silly at all from where I sit.
:Any other suggestions? �I'll have to check out Billy Collins...
Yes, check him out, or buy. Collins is currently Poet Laureate, but don't let that stop you. He seems to wear the title lightly. A few other living poets (and one title each) that I recommend:
Albert Goldbarth, "Heaven and Earth, a Cosmology"
Amy Gerstler, "The True Bride"
Christopher Howell, "Sweet Afton" and "Though Silence: The Ling Wei Texts."
As with a list of music recommendations, I could make this post as long as a phone book, but I'll stop there. I would love to know what poets you or others recommend.
Thanks Scott!
Herring405
I am glad to see that someone liked it enough to comment. Thanks for that. I came across the poem as an insert in an article by Billy Collins for The Chronicle. All of his books have their points, but I think the most recent, entitled "Picnic, Lightning" is the best. It is named after a parenthetical moment in Nabokov's "Lolita," which reads: "My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three." If you liked this poem, you will love this book.
: Have you ever read anything by a poet name Paul Violi? �<snip> For example, he has published a poem called something like "Errata and Corrections" at the end of one of his books, which instructs the reader to go back and change some words from earlier poems into totally different ones, which have far-reaching effects.
I have not read Violi, but now I will. He sounds interesting, not silly at all from where I sit.
:Any other suggestions? �I'll have to check out Billy Collins...
Yes, check him out, or buy. Collins is currently Poet Laureate, but don't let that stop you. He seems to wear the title lightly. A few other living poets (and one title each) that I recommend:
Albert Goldbarth, "Heaven and Earth, a Cosmology"
Amy Gerstler, "The True Bride"
Christopher Howell, "Sweet Afton" and "Though Silence: The Ling Wei Texts."
As with a list of music recommendations, I could make this post as long as a phone book, but I'll stop there. I would love to know what poets you or others recommend.
Thanks Scott!
Herring405
