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Fits of Concision: Collected Poems of Six or Fewer Lines
Poetry. At turns humorous and profound, this collection spans Kennedy's writing career from 1955 to date. It contains 334 brief poems: lyrics and story poems, epigrams, epitaphs, haiku, poems of no special kind; on the themes of sex, the ages of man, poets, and more.
A sample, "Ars Poetica," goes:
"The goose that laid the golden egg
Died looking up at her crotch
To find out how her sphincter worked.
Would you lay well? Don't watch."
A sample, "Ars Poetica," goes:
"The goose that laid the golden egg
Died looking up at her crotch
To find out how her sphincter worked.
Would you lay well? Don't watch."
- GenresPoetry
138 pages, Paperback
Published November 3, 2014
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 31, 2016
These little poems are addictive. You keep finding yourself saying, Just one more...this collection spans 6 decades, and includes poems from The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, and Sewanee Review. I especially found myself laughing out loud over the section devoted to the complexities of publishing, being a writer, dealing with reading fans, critics, etc. No one I'm aware of matches Kennedy's sharp, witty humor and embarrassing insight into human thoughts and emotions. And for anyone who wines about rhyming poetry, here is his brilliant answer:
ON THE MONOTONY OF METER
Who that damns meter for its lack of variety
Wishes his heart beat with more spontaneity?
Kennedy understands the precise beat of the heart and the challenge in meeting that precision with words. A master of concision.
ON THE MONOTONY OF METER
Who that damns meter for its lack of variety
Wishes his heart beat with more spontaneity?
Kennedy understands the precise beat of the heart and the challenge in meeting that precision with words. A master of concision.
Displaying 1 of 1 review