Poet James Wright...

was from my hometown, Martins, Ferry, Ohio. Click here to read his biography. You may actually find his lifeline to be more interesting. Well, especially if you are from Martins Ferry.

You can find his poetry here. Finally, for an excellent discussion of his poetry, go here.

To many, Wright's poetry seemed dark and unsettling. There is an honesty to his poems that appeals to me. Moreover, his poems, in many ways, reminds us not to miss the "moment." That, I think, is a significant contribution of his work.

Thanks to Dan Shimp, my recently rediscovered childhood friend from Martins Ferry, I was reminded of Wright's poetry. We need friends to remind us of what we have forgotten in life--I think.

Here is one of Wright's poems, reflecting his struggle, like so many of us, to accept the world as it is.

Leave Him Alone

The trouble with me is
I worry too much about things that should be
Left alone.
The rain-washed stone beside the Adige where
The lizard used to lie in the sun
Will warm him again
In its own time, whether time itself
Be good or bad.
I sit on a hill
Far from Verona, knowing the vanity
Of trying to steal unaware on the lizards in the evening.
No matter how quickly
I pounce
Or slowly creep among the low evergreens
At the bend of the water,
He will be there
Or not there, just as
The sunlight pleases him.
The last feather of light fallen lazily down
Floats across the Adige and rests a long moment
On his lifted face.