The Nearness of the Way You Look Tonight

A selection of recent poems by a poet of whom James Schuyler wrote: “Wit is never distant from the scenes he invents, a metaphysical wit suggestive of Marvell, and one that is not satirical but informed with pity. His joy in words, and the things words adumbrate, is infectious: we catch a contagion of enlightenment. To me, he is the most stimulating poet of his generation.” “I knew this guy knew something I didn't—something none of the other poets I knew knew either. I also saw that this was something he somehow kept to himself, even as he offered it with open hands. So it was the true poetic mystery. And then this poetry was very funny, but with a sombre undercurrent of the kind that runs through the gaeity of Mozart.” (Barry Schwabsky, The Poetry Project Newsletter)