William Dawes (Eileen Myles)

Wow. That's some fast writing then publication. Today's poem by Eileen Myles is about the Boston marathon bombing.

It's one skinny poem - all in lower case. I don't know if that's her style or not, but it does add to the urgency of the thing. Like she saw the news and immediately penned the poem. And maybe it's part of that immediacy, but I find the poem to be confusing - with sentences that seem to start, then run into one another. There is not a lot of clarity here.

Well except for that one breakaway line - "little babies dying" - I bet that was the impetus for her to write this poem. The emotional impact of that line is large, but then it gets muddled again as she goes on to 'wrap' things up talking about events and history and living truth.

So for me, this poem's publication one week after the event seems opportunistic (of the publisher), but that this is a good draft of a poem - not quite finished, but onto something. 

Favorite line: "I don't even think they / live here. They run all the way / into Boston. Why"

I don’t even think they
live here. They run all the way
into Boston. Why - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23500#sthash.vpECSymz.dpuf