A book of poems is like a novel
Which forgets itself from page to page.
This one was published in 1990—
The poet wrote it during the smirking age.
Young in his photo, with a hint of a smirk,
You can see where it ends. Study his work.
Marriage, a kid, 9/11, removed the smirk from his face.
His elegiac tone replaced the funny one.
Every sort of style mingles now. And yet
Contrasting moods always crash the poems we forget.
A light tone with a serious subject,
Or a light subject with a serious tone,
Is the literary way. The cheap
Manner in the shadows. Parking lot. Bone.
What is conservative? Rocks piled by the sea,
Lofty trees, children replacing the old.
Where is the book with a poem entitled
“I Have Been Crying Out For My Love?”