CARVER POEM SATURDAY 6/9

The genius that is American writer, Raymond Carver...

While post upon post can be written about Carver's life and work, let's just say that for all intents and purposes, his simplistic, yet utterly effective prose will send shivers down many a spine. He wasn't only one of the world's finest writers of short fiction, but also one of its most large-hearted and affecting poets.

Like Carver's stories, the more than 300 poems are marked by a keen attention to the physical world. His unflinching talent compressed vast feelings into three or four words and was truly a voice of conversational intimacy. The best aspect of all of his writing, however, was that he knew when to stop at the most precise moment.

Enjoy this Saturday's poem ... Perhaps one of the poet's most minimal efforts, these six lines read differently each time you read them. So simple, yet powerful. Minimalism at its best. Enjoy, as always...

LATE FRAGMENT

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

-- Raymond Carver
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Poetry Collections
Near Klamath (1968)

Winter Insomnia (1970)

At Night The Salmon Move (1976)

Where Water Comes Together

with Other Water (1985)

Ultramarine (1986)

A New Path To The Waterfall (1989)

Poetry Compilations
In a Marine Light: Selected Poems (1988)

All of Us: The Collected Poems (1996)