Wednesday, December 09, 2020

Poems that "try to praise" the world

Today's poem in my collection of 366 poems for 2020 (#366poems2020) is Thomas Lux's "Ode to the Unbroken World, Which Is Coming." Even before I went to check the list and post the poem just now, I had been thinking about poems like Lux's that offer an apology not for poetry but for the world, such as Jack Gilbert's "A Brief for the Defense", Adam Zagajewski's "Try to Praise the Mutilated World" (which I know in the English translation by Clare Cavanagh), and Maggie Smith's "Good Bones." These poems all "try to praise" the "shithole" of the world in which "there's always a punchbowl" and "there will be music despite everything". (Andrew Shields, #111words, 9 December)


1 comment:

Chuck Taylor said...

Love metaphysical poems! Your examples are great. Will read one or two at New Year's Party.