I have a friend who says her favorite way to read poetry is in quotation, as isolated lines in paragraphs of prose, such as in this column. You can’t have a personal, favorite part, the way I have a favorite part of “Prufrock” (which changes over time). Some of what’s in “Little Poems” does have a one-and-done feel. Short poems can be facile because they are short — they’re not wasting much of your time, so get over it. It’s unsatisfying in the way of all short unsatisfying poems; the end of any poem is a reward, but bad short poems satisfy too soon.

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Persons: Michael Hennessy, Julian the, John Keats, ” Ben Lerner, “ Prufrock, Shel Silverstein, Lawrence, Lawrence — Locations: Sappho, “, D.H