Koethe, John: Beyond Belief

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, paperback

Publication Date: September 12, 2023

Publisher Marketing: A rich, meditative new collection of poetry from John Koethe, the "necessary and great poet" (Hyperallergic).

It's presumptuous, but if you're reading this you
Probably know my usual obsessions and preoccupations:
The "world"--both the word and what it stands for--and time,
Which is or isn't real, depending on my mood. I've always
Hated poems about philosophy, and I hope I still do,
But since I don't know what that means anymore, here I am,
Musing on my ends and my beginnings one more time . . .

In Beyond Belief, John Koethe poses eternal and essential questions about the rhythms of time, language and literature, and "the space between attention and belief." The eleventh book of poetry from America's philosopher-poet is an intimate, searching collection that gives life to the mundane and lends words to our most interior and abstract musings. What makes a life real? Words on a page, the accumulation of moments and memories, or nothing at all? And what is a life worth? Locked inside, have we lost our future and its promises or are we merely pressed to inhabit our present and ourselves?

The award-winning poet invites us into his consideration of our world, as "An ordinary person sitting on his balcony on a summer afternoon, / Waiting patiently for someone to explain it to and meanwhile / Living quietly in his imagination, imagining the afterlife."