kunitz has passed away. i think he was my 3rd poetic hero, the no.3 contemporary poet i read after plath and hughes, before levine, before carver. i think i picked up his Passing Through from the stamford library and was immediately engrossed in it.
i think the attraction is becoz of his "uncle-ish" manner of writing. there's a soft tone in his poems, like you would imagine coming from your fav male grandparent (if you have one) saying "you know boy, when i was your age..." no reprimands, just a nostalgic storyteller. still, i see his pic, read his poems, and wonder if the words "boy, i have taken more salt, then you have had rice." would apply to him. haha.
slate has a small article of him by pinsky if anyone's interested to rest. as for kunitz's books, i recommend Passing Through.
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listeningto: mary j blige - be without you
reading: mark strand - blizzard of one
update: thought that it was remarkably sad that i could go on about the man and yet not own a single copy of his book, so whilst waiting for davinci code to open, i bought his collected poems, hardback mind you, to join the rest in my poetry book collection. last copy at kino.
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2 comments:
That's a good point about his style, his "fatherly" way of writing. It's as if he has been collectin wisdom and simply sharing it. He wasn't afraid of changing his approach to do it. Accessible reading, yet powerful. Not an easy combo to pull off.
u can say that again. strange though, he was more formal when he started out (intellectual things, rite?). now there's only one of my 5 poetic heroes left still alive - levine. oops hope this doesnt jinx him.
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