sad news

Wislawa Szymborska, the Polish poet who won the Nobel prize in 1996, has died.  She was one of the first poets I read and enjoyed, even at a time when I had no idea how to read contemporary poetry.  I found her poem, "Some Like Poetry," in The New Yorker, and I carried it from one city to another as I moved around trying not to be a teacher or writer.  I became both, so I now share that poem with my students.  I was recently told that her influence was clearly in my poetry, which I can only take as a compliment.  It's time to go back and read more of her work.