What He Ought to Know: New and Selected Poems

By Edward Foster

Poetry. WHAT HE OUGHT TO KNOW collects nearly forty poems from Foster's earlier books with thirty new works, including "Dear Image Maker," "The Physicist Who Wants to Act, But Needs To Sleep," "Itinerary, 2004," "Living Almost Without Cause," "The Fractal Lie," and, in particular, the long poem "The Way We Live Now." The poems draw on the poet's life in the Middle East and in New England, a troubled marriage, friendships with fellow artists, and homosexual desire. Elegant and rigorously constructed, the poems are grounded in the gnostic poetics Foster discussed in Answerable To None; although most of the poems reflect deep suffering and loss, many also embody a charming and cathartic humor. As one reviewer wrote of the poems in Foster's first book, The Space Between Her Bed and Clock, "This is negative capability taken to a new level & it feels good--the flight-simulating G-forces in a jet built for oblivion."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0975919776
• ISBN13: 9780975919774
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Marsh Hawk Press
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.7" x 8.7"