Tag Archives: death

Robert Vaughan’s Askew

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Mark Kerstetter

ASKEW: not in a straight or level position: her hat was slightly askew | the door was hanging askew on one twisted hinge. wrong; awry: the plan went sadly askew | the judging was a bit askew. I probably know … Continue reading →

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Henry’s Fate

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Mark Kerstetter

Today I’m going to read a few Dream Songs by John Berryman from among the forty-five included in the book Henry’s Fate. The poems of Henry’s Fate were selected by Berryman’s biographer, John Haffenden, and the book was published in … Continue reading →

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What is a Man?

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Mark Kerstetter

Part One Having recently stumbled across the film When Nietzsche Wept (I enjoyed it) and encountered the idea—again—that Thus Spoke Zarathustra is his most popular book—some say his best—I felt like leaving this note here about why I think it … Continue reading →

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A New Reading of John Ashbery’s Three Poems

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Mark Kerstetter

A CLEAN COPY There are books that fall on you like a building. You’ve survived but you’ll never forget where you were standing when it happened. I was 25 when I read John Ashbery’s Three Poems, about to turn 26. … Continue reading →

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A Story About Time or Why I Wear a Mechanical Watch Every Day

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

When I was a kid I liked wristwatches and had a couple of Timex hand-winders in my possession. One, a small plain white dial piece with Arabic indices and a strap of gray with black speckles, I liked to wear … Continue reading →

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Poem on the Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

I built a machine of words.It did its job.It worked its greaseand when it became dryit was anybody’s businessto speak.Again.Today.Every time the first time.Every time different.It lived as long as it could.It hung on.Oh how it hung on!“Past its prime” … Continue reading →

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Gombrowicz on Time

Posted on August 11, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

I look out the window toward the neighbor’s house. When we moved in it was painted pink. In my mind’s eye it is always pink. How many years has it been blue? It’s one of the best passages in Gombrowicz’s … Continue reading →

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Gombrowicz on Poets (the good)

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

Today’s poet ought to be a child, but a cunning, sober, and careful child. Let him write poetry, yet let him be capable of realizing its limitations at all times. Let him be a poet, but a poet prepared at … Continue reading →

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Reading Clarel During the Pandemic

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Mark Kerstetter

Reading Herman Melville’s Clarel, the longest poem written by an American, was a beautiful meditation for me, and did not take long. Melville’s prose is better than his poetry, although one could argue his prose is poetry. But the curious … Continue reading →

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On Reading William Carlos Williams on Christmas Day

Posted on December 25, 2018 by Mark Kerstetter

It’s Christmas and I don’t have to goIt’s Christmas and I have a place to stay Not writing but readingmy favorite thingPicking my waythrough the delicate mechanismsNot by the clockbut all day to lightly treadSo as not to tramplemy own … Continue reading →

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