Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Behind My Eyes: Poems (2008)by Li-Young Lee
None Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Where is he writing from? Where does he go when he writes these poems? I have no idea. Some of these lines made me perplexed, as if they are spoken from a place where the concept of "sky" and "shadow" and "death" are completely different. I looked at the lines "Death creates a blind spot. / Man is a secret, blind to himself," "Sister, we died in childhood, remember? / Into birds we died, into their flying," "A clock the bees unearth, / gathering the overspilled minutes." over and over.. Some of these poems were truly breathtaking for me. Reading the poems really made me feel the totality of how poetry is a spiritual practice for him (as opposed to an aesthetic practice for many others). The poems are mystical. Subdued power. Incomprehensible like very old runes. I think with him, poetry becomes something otherworldly. An experience. I turn the last page and return to the world, and for some reason, the realm within his pages was so much bigger, more wondrous, than the world I am in now. ( ) Lee's poems are consistently stunning, pulling together careful observation, powerful language, and graceful moments in any given line and stanza. Falling into his work is something like journeying into another space and another mind, his poems are each, from beginning to end, so carefully constructed. And yet, they seem effortless, and they are readable and engaging. Few poems in this collection are not stand-outs, and in most collections, any of these poems would leap from the pages and demand attention and re-reading. Simply, Lee's work is powerful and forever worth reading, forever worth sharing. Recommended. no reviews | add a review
Combining sensitivity and eloquence with a broad appeal, Li-Young Lee walks in the footsteps of Stanley Kunitz and Billy Collins as one of the United States's most beloved poets. Playful, erotic, at times mysterious, his work describes the immanent value of everyday experience. Straightforward language and simple narratives become gateways to the most powerful formulations of beauty, wisdom, and divine love. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNone
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)811.54Literature English (North America) American poetry 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |