Jane Hirshfield

I have such mixed feelings about this book. The chapters alternated from incredibly illuminating, engaging deep dives into carefully chosen poems revealing specific qualities of poetry to lengthy thought pieces too far removed from a particular illustrative text to hold my attention.

I quite liked the (title) heart cycle, the deer, the fish, the mule, and a few scattered others - those with quietude or seeking now-ness, those meeting grief head-on. Others read more like standard love poems. Of course we can never like all of a poet's work just the same, and those will be someone else's favorites.

I'm gradually getting better at grasping and feeling poetry. Hirshfield helps.