Brevity is one of the recurring topics in this online collection of notes. Seeing Michael Longley’s obituary reminded me of his experiments with short poems.
I like short poems that capture a strong image. William Carlos Williams, Charles Reznikoff and Lorine Niedecker were masters. How does Longley fit in with this gang? Trying to explain a two- or four-line poem is hopeless, so here’s an example, the whole of “Old Poets”:
Old poets regurgitate
Pellets of chewed-up paper
Packed with shrew tails, frog bones,
Beetle wings, wisdom.
A suitable epitaph, I think.
• Source: “Old Poets” is on the website Brief Poems, which has a fine collection of Longley’s work:
https://briefpoems.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/snowfall-brief-poems-by-michael-longley/
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