Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation.

You are a human animal.

You are a very special breed.

Or you are the only animal.

Who can think, who can reason, who can read.

The cow goes...

Hello and welcome to Bookworm.

I'm Michael Silverblad, and today my guest is Mark Strand, one of the great American poets.

You know, recently, when I called Mark Strand, knowing that I would be talking to him,

I asked him if I could read some of his recent poetry,

his more recent poetry, so I'd know what he'd been doing.

He said to me, I haven't written any poetry since my last book, Blizzard of One,

and I said, what about that poem I saw in The New Yorker?

It was absolutely beautiful.

Oh, he said, and I'll let him tell you.

Oh, I said, that isn't a poem.

That's a list.

And I said, a list.

What do you mean a list?

It seems to me to be a perfectly beautiful poem.

And he explained.

Well, I explained that I didn't go about writing it the way I write my poems.

...