Robert Hass is one of my FAVORITE poets. This poem's opening line, "Maybe you need to write a poem about grace," hit me like giant octopus tentacles. I was sucked in to the welcome abyss of one of my favorite Roberts (equally tied with Bly). If you follow the above link, not only can you read this magnificent poem, you can listen to Hass read it. It's not easy to be a great poem-out-loud-reader. Most of us have that poet voice, where we're all drawn in to a melodic lullaby, but no one catches the words as their eyes slowly close. I wish I didn't sound that way, but I do. Not so with Robert. He's a pleasure to listen to. His voice is slow and calm but in a way that makes you engage with the words. Among the melody, their is friction too. I could go on and on about some of the lines, especially the ones in the second full stanza, about the man who wanted to kill himself and his meanderings about sea animals, but I'll let you experience it for yourself. What I love most is being taken through a story here. It may seem random at first, but it most certainly is not. It is life. It is grace. Elegance and movement. And just a little bit of song.
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