The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke

Roethke's grasp of the nature of North American landscapes and experience continues to startle me.

Roethke is one of my favorite poets. His lines can be surprising (he compares his lover to a lizard :-), unsettling (he explores the remote regions of his psyche), rhythmic, melodic, delightful . . . I highly recommend him.

What a gift for capturing the perspective of a (depressed) "solitude" - and from a child's viewpoint, no less: "Went down cellar. Talked to a faucet. The drippy water had nothing to say." ......"a kitten can bite with is feet.Papa and Mamma have more teeth"

Another sad and tragic voice, full of music and glimpses into the true lonely moments of life. I read Roethke for his lines not his complete poems. "Kisses are gone . . . the evening came a long, long time." I've been there.

I am obsessed with this man's words.

"Epidermal Macabre", "The Geranium", "Elegy for Jane", and "My Papa's Waltz" were my favorites.