Poetry is often associated with the young. We think of the fire of the Romantics, or the young T.S. Eliot upending traditional poetry with modernism with The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. But even younger poets age, banking the fire and passion as they become tempered by experience and understanding.
Two of my favorite contemporary poets are Luci Shaw (1928-2025) and Rhina Espaillat (b. 1932). It’s something of a coincidence, or perhaps it isn’t, that both reached their 90s. Shaw died last December, just shy of her 95th birthday. Espaillat tuns 94 this year. Theirs is not the poetry of youth but instead the poetry of long lives lived – and lived well. It’s also the poetry of understanding and affection for people, in all our wild and crazy humanity.
For Instance, the new poetry collection by Espaillat, demonstrates this understanding and affection.
Some Tuesday Readings
Coleridge’s Greek Ode: ‘Against the Slave Trade’ (1792) – Adam Roberts at Substack-ships On Fire, Off the Shoulder of Orion.
Just Beyond Yourself – poem by David Whyte.
What is a Simile? – L.L. Barkat at Tweetspeak Poetry.
Come, night, come, Romeo – poem by William Shakespeare at Every Day Poems.
“The Life of Man,” poem by Francis Bacon – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient & Modern.
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