5 Poems by Reginald Shepherd

Reginald Shepherd (1963-2008)

"I wish to make Sappho and the South Bronx, the myth of Hyacinth and the homeless black men ubiquitous in the cities of the decaying American empire, AIDS, and all the beautiful, dead cultures, speak to and acknowledge one another, in order to discover what can be made of a diminished thing (to quote Robert Frost), and thereby to salvage the promise of happiness (in Theodor Adorno's words) that the lyric embodies. My aim is to rescue some portion of the drowned and drowning, including, always, myself." [1]

Reginald Shepherd was born in New York City April 10, 1963. He grew up in Bronx housing projects.[2] He has said his motivation for writing derived in part from his wanting to rescue his mother from "the wreckage of her life." [3] Shepherd read a lot growing up, and first became serious about poetry when he read Eliot's "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" in the ninth grade. [4]

Shepherd graduated from Bennington College in 1988 and earned Master's degrees from the University of Iowa and Brown University. [5] He wrote five volumes of poetry.

Shepherd has appeared in The Best American Poetry series four times. He has also appeared in two Pushcart Prize anthologies. Among awards Shepherd received were grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. [6]

Reginald Shepherd wrote, "if art really is some kind of compensation or restitution for what we lack in our lives, and I believe that among many other things it is, it can be so only by providing something different from what we already have, not merely by reflecting or reflecting upon those lives and those myriad lacks." [7]

Reginald Shepherd died of cancer September 10, 2008. He lived in Pensacola, Florida with his partner.[8]

==========================
Text of poems:
Hesitation Theory
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=182353

Blue
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Reginald-Shepherd/7094

Eros in His Striped Blur Shirt
http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_poetry/Eros_In_His_Striped_Blue_Shirt_by_...

You, Therefore
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=179292

Skin Trade
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/skin-trade/

==========================
Sources and Notes
[1] [2] Reginald Shepherd to Contemporary Authors
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/reginald-shepherd

[3] [7] Reginald Shepherd, Why I Write From Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry, published by the University of Michigan Press. Copyright © 2007 by Reginald Shepherd. http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20409

[4] Barbara Gaines Hunter, An Interview with Reginald Shepherd
http://bgaineshunter.typepad.com/ReginaldShepherd.pdf

[5] [6] Wikipedia: Reginald Shepherd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Shepherd

[8] Academy of American Poets: Reginald Shepherd
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1053

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Reginald
• Shepherd
• Hesitation
• Theory
• Blue
• Eros
• in
• HisBlue
• Striped
• Shirt
• You
• Therefore
• Skin
• Trade
• PoemsBeingRead
• late
• 20thCentury
• early
• 21stCentury
• poetry
• james
• carew
• Poems
• Being
• Read

[DanielGeorgeStewart]

He is an amazing poet. So sorry he left us so soon. At least he left art in his wake.

[langstonify]

Thanks.

[Idlinfarm]

To me these are powerful, moving poems.  Thank you.

[andrewnorris2]

I cannot but admire your dedication to bringing to the attention of an even wider public poets who are less well known outside their own circles. Well done, James, this is proving to be an invaluable resource for new discoveries.

[keanghiero]

Nice, I like it

All the best

Kean