[12/02/25] Luchs, Kurt: Tributaries

Sagging Meniscus, paperback

Publication Date: December 2, 2025

Publisher Marketing: In Tributaries, Kurt Luchs chooses twenty poems that hold vital meaning for him as a reader and writer—many, but not all, recognized as classics—and pays twofold tribute to them. First, he explores each poem with a deep-diving personal essay on how the poet works their magic upon us. Then he gives a tribute poem of his own, in response to, or inspired by, the poem under discussion. The result is a uniquely well-rounded, multidimensional way of honoring great poems, unlocking more of their treasures for both first-time and long-time lovers of poetry. Poets featured are Wallace Stevens, Robinson Jeffers, David Ignatow, Philip Larkin, D. H. Lawrence, Etheridge Knight, Wislawa Szymborska, Lucille Clifton, Gabriela Mistral, H. D., Jorge Luis Borges, Federico Garcia Lorca, Mary Oliver, Lewis Carroll, Kenneth Koch, Homer, Louise Glück, Robert Bly, Charles Simic and James Tate.