R.I.P Robert Creeley

One of America's greatest and most important poets has died. Robert Creeley was the author of more than 60 books, primarily poetry, but also several excellent works in prose. His direct influence on my poetry and my thinking about poetry is too great to be detailed in this small space. Please visit the Academy of American Poets press release.

As my own personal tribute, I offer the following poem:

For Ann

(with thanks to Robert Creeley)

Anger is
a door opens
of itself
speech is
(as Creeley said)
a mouth open
but
inhaling or exhaling?
in any case
a form
of respiration
words take
legs walk
on their own
feet let us
stumble forward
together.
August 1996