Somewhere
Inside that numbness of the earth
Our future trying to happen.
I look up – as if to meet your voice
With all its urgent future
That has burst in on me.
Then look back
At the book of the printed words.
You are ten years dead. It is only a story.
Your story. My story.”
-Visit, pg 8-9
Poets write about war, about nature, about pain.
Yet more than anything else, poets write about love.
Emily Dickinson, Lord Byron, Shakespeare – these names echo in the mind, their poems’ ability to endure and evoke emotions is legendary.
For the Valentine’s Day edition of Megan’s Recommended Reading, I’m going to bypass these poets.
Instead I think you should read Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes. If he sounds familiar, you may have heard of his poetry or his time as Poet Laureate of Great Britain. More likely, you’re knowledgeable about his first marriage, to the poet Sylvia Plath.
Critics and fans blame Hughes and Plath’s tumultuous relationship for Plath’s suicide. And given Hughes long silence on the subject, it is enthralling to read this collection of poems that explore their marriage.
Not the traditional set of love poems, Birthday Letters beautifully conveys the angst and fear and tragedy of love.
Birthday Letters, A Unique Love Story 
