Friday, June 25, 2010

The Outgoing US Poet Laureate

The outgoing US Poet Laureate is Californian Kay Ryan who served two terms that ended in May 2010. In commenting on Ryan's poetry, Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington stated, “She takes you through little images to see a very ordinary thing or ordinary sentiment in a more subtle and deeper way.”

I find in Ryan's poems a sense of observation in the process of illumination. Eminently accessible, the poems are refined and disciplined. Ryan's figurative language is rich and dense, and the sonic impressions she creates are are frequently enhanced by internal rhyme. She explores ideas with a unique lyrical intelligence and genuine inventive intensity.


From "Patience"
By Kay Ryan

Who would
have guessed
it possible
that waiting
is sustainable—
a place with
its own harvests.

Read Kay Ryan Poems & Bio:

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