Poetry
Bright Hunger
by Mark Irwin
Mark Irwin's poetics are a direct descendant of Rilke and Hart Crane. His poetry is propelled by charged rhythms and a lush music.
"An impeccable craftsman, Mark Irwin writes with a lyrical intensity that somehow combines the brilliance of Valery and the natural ease of observation of William Carlos Williams." —David St. John
Passing
It is now this late evening in April
among first irises and bees I realize
they were opening doors Mary Robert
and William I want to say of clouds sunlight
rain now Didn't we notice the arrows
of hearts hands leaping toward an unmapped
when No age no place though all of one
light Somewhere beneath that cloud
in a little town a white door is opening
maybe for nothing but wind but we will all
one day be there I mean when opening is finally enough
$14.95
About the Author
About the Author
Mark Irwin is the author of thirteen collections of poetry, which include Once When Green (2025), Joyful Orphan (2023), Shimmer (2020), American Urn: Selected Poems (1987-2014), Large White House Speaking (2013), Tall If (2008), Bright Hunger (Boa, 2004), White City (Boa, 2000), Quick, Now, Always (Boa, 1996), and Against the Meanwhile: Three Elegies (1988). He has also translated Philippe Denis’ Notebook of Shadows, Nichita Stănescu’s Ask the Circle to Forgive You: Selected Poems, and Zanzibar: Selected Poems and Letters of Arthur Rimbaud (forthcoming with Alain Borer). His collection of essays, Monster: Distortion, Abstraction, and Originality in Contemporary American Poetry, was published in 2017. His poetry and essays have appeared in many literary magazines including The American Poetry Review, Agni Review, The Atlantic, Conjunctions, Georgia Review, Harper’s, The Kenyon Review, Paris Review, Pleiades, Poetry, The Nation, New England Review, New American Writing, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Southern Review, and Tin House. Recognition for his work includes The Nation/Discovery Award, four Pushcart Prizes, two Colorado Book Awards, the James Wright Poetry Award, the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, The Juniper Prize for Poetry, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright, Lilly, and Wurlitzer Foundations. A professor in the PhD in Creative Writing & Literature Program at the University of Southern California, he lives in Los Angeles and the mountains outside Salida, Colorado. His poetry has been translated into several languages. For more information about Mark Irwin, visit www.markirwinauthor.com