Ye Gods, More Dead Poets

It's a plague!

W.D. Snodgrass now. At least he was 83. "Heart's Needle" is still an amazing poem (and the title poem of a fine book). And The Fuehrer Bunker: ballsy to write dramatic monologues (rare at that time) in the voices of those down in the bunker. Both of these books helped broaden my vision of poetry.

And also Danish poet Inger Christensen, whose work I didn't really know but I will. Now. Too late.

As cummings would say, "dying is fine)but Death" ... "(forgive us,o life!the sin of Death."

Mick Imlah (1956-2009)

This past year, the poet whose work I discovered and liked best was Mick Imlah. I bought his The Lost Leader and loved it, and was looking forward to more books by him. Just January 1 on my personal blog I posted about this. I was thinking how nice it was to find a new poet whose work I was looking forward to.

Then yesterday I discovered that he had just died.

No more books by Mick Imlah. The poetry world is now bleaker.

On the possible upside, maybe his first book will be reprinted. And The Lost Leader exists to be re-read.

I also like The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse, which he edited with Robert Crawford.

There, I've cheered myself up already.