Book Bonanza in Wednesday Mail

Yesterday mail was exciting. Four books arrived. Pictured to the left is The (hefty) Daily Poet Companion Journal. Yes, I am committing to writing a poem a day for the next year.



On the right is Crush by Richard Siken. I first discovered Siken's work at AWP15 in Minneapolis earlier this year. I've heard a lot of good things about this book and just thumbing through it last night added to my excitement about it.








Below in the left is My Feelings by Nick Flynn. I've read a few poems by Flynn and I have to say that I believe I am going to like this book as well.






And last but not lease is Louise Gluck's Faithful and Virtuous Night. A National Book Award Winner that received much attention earlier this year. (seen below)

Writing Thought for the Day

“The master said You must write what you see.

But what I see does not move me.

The master answered Change what you see.”

-          -Louise Gluck , Vita Nova

Ceremony by Louise Gluck

Over the years I've come to appreciate Louise Gluck more and more. The first time I read her she just didn't click with me. It was The Wild Iris that sold me on Gluck. It was so different from anything else of hers that I have read and I not only liked it but was impressed with depth and range of her abilities. The Wild Iris was written in something like 9 or 10 weeks and yet there was noting cheap about the writing.

Her work has grown on me and I've even revisited some of the first poems I read of hers and found for many of the a greater appreciation. Today I found one of her poems that I love. It's such a smart write. It is fresh and the whole concept of the poem is so brilliant you (or at least I) wish you had come up with it yourself.

The poem is titled Ceremony and it was published in The New York Times and originally appeared in her collection "Meadowlands" from 1996. You can read Ceremony here.

Imagine-

"There was a time
only certainty gave me
any joy. Imagine -
certainty, a dead thing ."

Louise Gluck  -  Ripe Peach - from The Seven Ages winner of the Bollingen Prize