On this Labor Day, it seems especially fitting to listen to New Jersey-born Robert Pinsky read his justly famous poem "Shirt" from his collection The Want Bone (Harper Collins, 1990). The recording was made at the 2008 Massachusetts Poetry Festival.
Pinsky twice has served as United States Poet Laureate (1997-2000). In addition to writing poetry, he also is an essayist, translator, editor, and teacher.
The text of "Shirt" is here.
Pinsky is the author, most recently, of Thousands of Broadways: Dreams and Nightmares of the American Small Town (University of Chicago Press, 2009), Gulf Music: Poems (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2008), The Life of David (Schocken, 2005), Democracy, Culture and the Voice of Poetry (Princeton University Press, 2005), and Jersey Rain: Poems (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001). He is the editor of Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud (W.W. Norton, 2009). His translations include The Infero of Dante (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997).
Robert Pinsky at Library of Congress Site (Extensive resources, including audio, are found here.)
Robert Pinsky at Poets.org Site
Robert Pinsky at Modern American Poetry Site
Robert Pinsky on Wired for Books Site (Readings and Interviews)
Favorite Poem Project
"On 'Shirt'" (Analysis)
Monday Muse returns next week.
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3 comments:
What a powerful poem.
It speaks to me of how we are all connected, woven together, no matter where we sit or stand.
Your pain is my pain. One death is all our death.
We are all connected.
How much we take for granted sometimes ...
An amazing story poem. One can "feel" the shirt and the drama and terror of the dropping young women from the flaming building....
xo
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