Robert Pinsky, He da Man

There are so many things I love about Robert Pinsky. I may have already written about this before, but it's worth repeating. Here is a list of reasons why you should love him too.

1. I like his face. He reminds me of an older Joaquin Phoenix. Ok, maybe that's a lame thing to say, but it's true.

2. I like how he reads. I saw him give a talk at CUNY a few years ago while he was promoting the Favorite Poem Project. Part of his lecture was on the old fashioned, affected cadence that so many of us were taught to use when reading poetry. A poem should be read in a natural voice, and that's part of the beauty of the Favorite Poem Project. The way something is read can truly transform the words. Last year I heard Natasha Trethewey read. She won a Pulitzer in 2007 and is undoubtedly an immensely talented poet. Listening to her read was another story. Her voice, slow and sing-songy, made the words fall dead.

3. I like his poems. Check out "City Elegies" and "Shirt." He tends to have these really carefully crafted lists with amazing sound and meter. They have ecstatic qualities that remind me of Matthew Dickman's poems--in the business of speculation about the web of the universe.

4. I like his perspective on poetry. He's a brilliant literary critic. You can read an interview with Pinsky here.

Go find some Robert Pinsky poems. And read them.