Barrow Street

Here's an interesting literary review. I read a very well done review in it at lunch today, by Scott Hightower, of Richard Howard's new book of poems, Talking Cures. Well, it's actually a reverie of Hightower's relationship to Howard (he was a student at one time) and the poetic voice Howard represents. In fact, the poem quoted in the review comes from an older book!

He closes with a very reassuring observation:

"Our poets make our poetry . . . One by one the poets give voice to our realm, our humanity, and fill our slandscape with our collective exploration: the observing, generating self engaged in speaking ourselves through time. Talking cures."

I very much like this sense of history, the historical conversation or polylogue that poets and poetry represent for any society, nation, culture. Hightower's strikes me as the appropriately Romantic tone for our bloody new century: individual and inclusive (undeniably so), measured and ambitious.

Now, if he can only let himself release literature from its chains, as in:

" . . . Howard consistently delivers the proportion and perspective an educated reader can expect from 'literature.'"

No shame, I think, in using that word again, since all educated readers will agree that it means so much more (other?) than the white male canon from which all educated readers have been liberated.