What he Ought to Know New and Selected Poems

by Edward Foster

What He Ought To Know collects nearly forty poems from Foster’s earlier books with thirty new works, including “Dear Image Maker,” “The Physicist Who Wants to Act, But Needs To Sleep,” “Itinerary, 2004,” “Living Almost Without Cause,” “The Fractal Lie,” and, in particular, the long poem “The Way We Live Now.” The poems draw on the poet’s life in the Middle East and in New England, a troubled marriage, friendships with fellow artists, and homosexual desire. Elegant and rigorously constructed, the poems are grounded in the gnostic poetics Foster discussed in Answerable to None; although most of the poems reflect deep suffering and loss, many also embody a charming and cathartic humor. As one reviewer wrote of the poems in Foster’s first book, The Space Between Her Bed and Clock, “This is negative capability taken to a new level & it feels good — the flight-simulating G-forces in a jet built for oblivion.”

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems, thoughtful, plaintive and elegantly written, are above all an honest reflection of Foster's evolution as a writer and person. Well-known as a critic, editor and publisher, his poems deserve the attention of anyone drawn to questions of desire and love. I very much enjoy the way these two elements, often combined with elegies to a love affair gone astray. Foster's inner conflict between the Apollonian nature of his mind and the physical and emotional relationships in the Gay world he inhabits form poems of gentle, crystalline brilliance that seem to take a page from the wisdom of the great poetic tradition of the Tang and Sung Dynasties. He is a poet worth reading.