We All Are Falling

"We all are falling." So Rilke writes in his poem, "Autumn." This months update includes writing on autumn, both its poetry and its politics, along with two poems, one old one new.

First Things has just published my short essay, "The Poetry of Autumn," which is one of several pieces I've written (though the others are forthcoming) that considers the New England poetic tradition and its famous representatives. "The Culture Wars Comes to Michigan" is my first essay for The Dispatch, an argument against the egregious Proposal 3, which would install an unlimited right to kill unborn children -- and indeed all manner of other violences -- in the Michigan constitution.

Also in First Things, this time in the November issue, is "For Martha," a new sonnet." The Catholic Thing has just reprinted an older poem of mine, "On a Palm." Since they were reprinting it anyway, I asked them to print a revised version that I think improves the poem (the revised version will eventually appear in my book On the New Physics). This poem has the same title and is from the same poetic sequence as another poem of the same name. The differences between them are very great, including that that other poem appeared in The Best American Poetry 2018, while this poem did not. 

While I am at it, I am including a video of my reading with Frederick Turner and Paul Mariani at the Future of the Catholic Literary Imagination conference, which was held on the final weekend of September and the first day of October. The reading was sponsored by the Catholic Culture Podcast.

As always, click the icons below to read the new work.

The Poetry of Autumn

The Culture Wars Come to Michigan

For Martha

On a Palm