Tuesday, February 26, 2008

"my own unnecessariness"

I direct you today to the website of the Poetry Center at Smith College, which provides many opportunities to hear poets read in the Northampton area. Next week, Tony Hoagland will be reading. I was unaware of his work until today, and I've really enjoyed reading the poems provided, written as they are in a plain, unadorned style that conveys sincere emotion and humility. My favorite of the three poems is Mistaken Identity, which begins, "I thought I saw my mother / in the lesbian bar..."

1 comment:

  1. Hmm, yeah, it seems he might be entertaining, though I don't know how much his "poetry" differs from flash fiction, but "whatever" about that issue. "Mistaken Identity" reminds me of when a Navy buddy took some of us to his gay bar in New London (the Salty Dog, if I remember correctly) and I saw a woman just as he describes being fawned over by about a half dozen of the most stunning women I've ever seen in my life. It was fun, it was fascinating, and it was excruciating!

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