We come to know each other by what we write, but another no less revealing way is by what we read that resonates with us. This is from Mark Strand's book "Dark Harbor", number XXVII.


Sharing Mark Strand

Of this one I love how the beautiful echoed
Within the languorous length of his sentences,
Forming a pleasing pointless commotion;

Of another the figures pushing each other
Out of the way, the elaborate overcharged
Thought threatening always to fly apart;

Of another the high deliberate tone,
The diction tending toward falseness
But always falling perfectly short;

Of another the rush and vigor of observation,
The speed of disclosure, the aroused intelligence
Exerting itself, lifting the poem into prophecy;

Of this one the humor, the struggle to locate high art
Anywhere but where expected, and to gild the mundane
With the force of the demonic or the angelic;

Of yet another the precision, the pursuit of rightness,
Balance, some ineffable decorum, the measured, circuitous
Stalking of the subject, turning surprise to revelation;

And that leaves this on on the side of his mountain,
Hunched over the page, thanking his loves for coming
And keeping him company all this time.




Poetry by countryfog
Read 387 times
Written on 2010-12-20 at 16:39

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Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
I've read very little of Mark Stand's poetry, and none in a long time. This fine poem is an elegant introduction. I'll have to follow it back to the source.
2010-12-24



Thank you for this and for jogging the gray cells. One of my favorite poems is "Pot Roast," by M.S. which I hadn't thought of in years.
2010-12-20