Richard Blanco’s Homeland of My Body: New and Selected Poems was published yesterday by Beacon Press. The book includes a generous sampling of his four previous collections bookended, so to speak, by two sections of new poems, one opening and another closing the book.
Since becoming the 5th inaugural poet of the United States, Richard has become comfortable writing “occasional” poems and this volume does not disappoint in that regard. “One Pulse” was written in response to the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting. “Until We Could” celebrates the tenth anniversary of Freedom to Marry. “Como Tú / Like You / Like Me” is dedicated to DREAMers, those impacted by DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.) In addition to his compelling subject matter, Richard grounds his poems with formal dexterity. Homeland of My Body includescontrapuntal/stereoscope poems; several ekphrastics; two ovillejos (a form often used by Miguel de Cervantes); a décima(a form popularized in Spain); and prose poems (one takes the shape of a reversed bucket list, completely with checkmarks while another uses the scaffolding of a living will).
Blanco is most at home with the list poem, his anaphora always surprising as in his poem “Why I Needed To,” for which I’ve provided a link below.
Congratulations, Richard!
https://poets.org/poem/why-i-needed
Beautiful poem. I always appreciate "Wednesdays with Denise" -- tshanks!
Posted by: Susan Aizenberg | October 28, 2023 at 09:17 AM