Final Harvest: Poems Book

Some of the most powerful, hair-raising, dynamic, brutal, vivid, imaginitive, ghostly, intense, sheerly dialectical poetry ever.

She has a knack, not at all uncommon among great writers, to seem accessible and surface-level beautiful while being almost unbearably challenging and provocative once engaged with. A genius, no questions asked.

If I had to bring, like, 5 books with me to the moon I think she would have to accompany whatever else I brought. She stands up to re-reading (really the most durable and near-foolproof standard) like few others.

Here's one of my favorites:

202

This World is not Conclusion.
A Species stands beyond-
Invisible as Music-
But positive, as Sound-
It beckons, and it baffles-
Philosophy- don't know-
And through a Riddle, at the last-
Sagacity, must go-
To guess it, puzzles scholars-
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown-
Faith slips- and laughs, and rallies-
Blushes, if any see-
Plucks at a twig of Evidence-
And asks a Vane, the way-
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit-
Strong Hallelujahs roll-
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul-


I've seriously considered getting the first line tattooed somewhere on myself for a long time.

Here's another that just chills you to the bone:

66

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons-
That oppresses, like the Heft
of Cathedral Tunes-

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us-
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are-

None may teach it- Any-
'Tis the Seal Despair-
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air-

When it comes, the Landscape listens-
Shadows- hold their breath-
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death-


I had a teacher in undergrad, a popular and unnpretentious type who wrote poetry of his own and though he was ultra-smart it never seemed to go very far in terms of publication. He cried more than a few times when he read her poetry in class and claimed to be hopelessly in love with her. #66 was a particular favorite of his.