an old tree

W. S. Merwin spent the winter of 1969 in Santa Fe. he lived & wrote in a John Gaw Meem house within walking distance of where I now live & write.

so last nite he began his reading with a poem from that winter. & he read chronologically thru to his most recent work (including "Blueberries After Dark"). nearing 80   this poet/translator/ecologist is a dapper steady man rootd in literary history. he has an abundance of white hair   stands straight   reads without artifice.

some of his recent poems I'd read in The New Yorker. they seemd slick. but his reading of them forces me to reread.