Dear Reader,
I hope you’re staying warm. It’s the second week of February.
The other day someone asked me what I could get excited about (in the context of teaching) and I paused for a moment. More than a moment. A list of books ran through my head. Courses I’ve taught in the past. Courses I could possibly teach in the future. And I realized I’ve only an appetite for poems. Which makes Sunday notes a good excuse to eat. Or, at least nourish myself. I wonder at the expansiveness of excitement. I wonder at how much hope we place in language. Especially when, how, so often it disappoints. Time tempers perception. I remind myself. I go back to the language that once excited me. I look for new language to touch me. I wander in and out of lines. I think the only thing I want in the world sometimes is a perfect beautiful sentence. Which you’re not going to get here tonight.
Tuesday night!
Please join me for a live Zoom book talk Tuesday February 10th at 6:00pm EST. I am hosting a conversation with Barbara Wansbrough about her debut book, Wild Things: A Geography of Grief.
Zoom registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nFWeO7UKSxaVpdLQamVPHg
Let’s have some W.S. Merwin:
![Separation by W.S. Merwin [poem] : r/Poetry](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CKtY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F16ff6b78-a9f1-4569-98d7-c537a7fac249_640x546.jpeg "Separation by W.S. Merwin [poem] : r/Poetry")
![POEM] Travelling Together by W. S. Merwin : r/Poetry](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!l3YG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2bd7e2a0-348d-4a2a-82ae-d743aeef29d0_1170x1114.jpeg "POEM] Travelling Together by W. S. Merwin : r/Poetry")
And in music, here’s Nina Simone: Live in Antibes
Until soon,
Sam
I had never seen W.S. Merwin's name before the end of last year, but now I seem to be seeing his poetry everywhere. I guess it is time to check him out further!
Thank you for sharing, I hope you continue to get to be together with more poetry throughout 2026.
You are what you teach - yet who you are is in relationship with you students . When the student is ready the teacher will appear. Sometimes disappointing to your interests (Dante) but letting you know what they need.
What is needed now is listening - something I’m not good at. McLuhan said the poet is our modern day prophet. After yers of teaching - poetry is the most difficult - why? “Human kind cannot bear very much reality “ is Eliot arrogant?