On the 9th anniversary of 9/11 it seems the conflict, pain and confusion generated by that critical moment in world history only proliferates with the passing years, unfortunately, as intolerance grows in America. I offer a link reminding readers of the free Nthposition anthology I co-edited in 2006, which features poems by Charles Bernstein, Paul Hoover, Ruth Padel, Elaine Feinstein and John Tranter, among many others. It is also available as a printed book.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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