Great Regulars: Jason Shinder describes the experience

of intimate connection in his stunningly direct and forthright last book, "Stupid Hope." The entire book was written under the shadow and stigma--the mortal terror--of a deadly cancer. Shinder tries to come to grips with dying too soon, and his testament shines with the light of last things. He can't linger much longer. He is furious with time, "which takes everything but itself." This gives special poignancy to the experience he names "Eternity." The entire poem is one sentence long--12 lines, which alternative between one and two-line stanzas. These create elastic units within the lyric, speeding up and slowing down the rhythm, isolating and intensifying individual moments.

Eternity

from The Washington Post: Poet's Choice: 'Eternity' by Edward Hirsch

~~~~~~~~~~~