NEAR PROVIDENCE 11/8/20

So I’m trying to

understand the good Oppen’s

universe of light.

I take a walk down

to the breakwater where a

girl sits with her old

dog in the dusk. Look,

don’t think! Oversexed Ikkyu

was Basho’s master.

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

One thought on “NEAR PROVIDENCE 11/8/20”

The zing of humour and perspective in the poem’s close connects the shape of teh poem, teh particular poem itself, the perspective at once passionately engaged and globally detached, and the story of the moment told by the poem nad recreated for and by the reader. ‘Oversexed’ grounds the poem and makes its insights all the more credible. And perhaps we see how the universe of light is energized by openness to creative desire wtihout reducing it to such abstractions–Look, don’t think!

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Author: Tom D'Evelyn

One thought on “NEAR PROVIDENCE 11/8/20”

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