'Not, I'll Not' takes its title from Gerard Manley Hopkins' sonnet about meeting suffering, 'Carrion Comfort' and explores some of the ideas in the psychedelic rock group Heron Oblivion's song, 'Beneath Fields'.
Category: Poetry
Du Fu – Dreaming of Li Bai
'This parting from the living brings constant pain,' wrote eighth-century Chinese poet Du Fu in an ode to friendship about his separation from Li Bai, who was in exile in the south of the country.
Judith Wright – The Lost Man
The Lost Man is Judith Wright's poem about the journey out of losing oneself, based on the true story of a plane crash survivor who was later lost over a waterfall in Australia.
Wendell Berry – Do Not Be Ashamed
Wendell Berry addresses the pressures of authority and the onus to conform in a defiant and compassionate stance against whatever would shame a person into compliance.
Walt Whitman – When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer
When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer encapsulates Walt Whitman's approach to the world: silent, solitary and mystical.
Ha Jin – The Detached
"Keep in mind the meaning ofyour existence: wherever you land,your footprints will become milestones."Ha Jin Ha Jin is a poet and novelist who moved to the United States from China in 1985. Having originally learned English from listening to the radio, Ha Jing is known for the simplicity of the language he employs in his… Continue reading Ha Jin – The Detached
Arthur Sze – First Snow
Arthur Sze's postmodern poetic style includes elements of Taoist and Zen philosophy written in a deeply observational style. Influenced by William Carlos Williams and Chinese poets like Bei Dao, Arthur Sze's work can be a difficult but rewarding read.
Tria Chang – I Was Once in Love
Tria Chang's poem, I Was Once in Love, talks about the possibilities and pitfalls of relationships and how things can so easily slip out of balance.
AR Ammons – Still
 "though I have looked everywhereI can find nothing lowlyin the universe" AR Ammons   AR Ammons' poem Still follows a resolution of a spiritual nature to ground oneself and to identify with the lowly rather than the grandiose. It's a call to commune with what is most basic and elemental, but the poet… Continue reading AR Ammons – Still
Susan Barba – How Should We Live Our Lives?
"Only the seaIs free of such calculations." Susan Barba   Declared 'a poem worth framing' by one reviewer, Susan Barba's How Should We Live Our Lives? dips into a stream of questions and musings reminiscent in style of Mary Oliver's simple and probing verse. She starts with love and trepidation and ends with an… Continue reading Susan Barba – How Should We Live Our Lives?