Heartland

I don’t believe it
when a poet as great as
Geoffrey Hill says the

‘heartland is heartless.’
It’s too slick. Valuelessness
projects the abject

self. The Earth suffers.
Love of life original
to our being here.

By ‘love’ I mean love
as other to ‘our loves.’ That
‘Is’ without image.

Is ontology
beyond the poet’s self? Be-
ing sings its heart out.

Author: Tom D'Evelyn

Tom D'Evelyn is a private editor and writing tutor in Cranston RI and, thanks to the web, across the US and in the UK. He can be reached at tom.develyn@comcast.net. D'Evelyn has a PhD in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley. Before retiring he held positions at The Christian Science Monitor, Harvard University Press, Boston University and Brown University. He ran a literary agency for ten years, publishing books by Leonard Nathan and Arthur Quinn, among others. Before moving to Portland OR he was managing editor at Single Island Press, Portsmouth NH. He blogs at http://tdevelyn.com and other sites. View all posts by Tom D'Evelyn

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