This Present Moment

From journeys to the Dolomites, to the north shore of Lake Tahoe; from Paris and Tuscany to the shrine at Delphi; from Santa Fe to Sella Pass, Snyder lays out these poems as a map of the last decade. Placed side–by–side, they become a path and a trail of complexity and lyrical regard, a sort of riprap of the poet’s eighth decade. In the mix are some of the most beautiful domestic poems of his great career: poems about his work as a homesteader and householder, as a father and husband, as a friend and neighbor. A centerpiece in this collection is a long poem about the death of his beloved, Carole Koda, a rich poem of grief and sorrow, rare in its steady resolved focus on a dying wife, of a power unequaled in American poetry. Gary Snyder is one of the greatest American poets of the last century, and This Present Moment shows his command, his broad range, and his remarkable courage. “Each of the moments of these poems is completely open, even when . . . it resounds with deep personal emotion.” —Booklist