Linda Pastan poet

Found an entry about this poet in yesterday's Writers Almanac newsletter.  If you haven't checked this out yet they're now also doing an audio link each day.

I'd never heard of Linda Pastan  before but they included one of her poems titled 'Things I didn't know I loved; after Nazim Hikmet'  which takes in clouds, the sky, the rain, and the sounds of departure.  Not an adequate description a lyrical poem with some wonderful descriptive lines.

Wish I could quote from it but I don't have permission so all I can say is look her up or check out her lucid writing at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DmqQkAAmsI&feature=channel

Reading about her I admired her tenacity prepared to revise until she creates the impact she wants.  And her tenacity to keep going.  At the age of 71 in 2003 she won an award from Poetry magazine in the US with prize money that paid her more than she'd ever earned in her life as a poet.

''She once said: 'I often write poems in my head to distract myself during hard times. ... Years ago, after a car crash, while I lay waiting for the ambulance, I actually finished a poem I had been working on, determined not to die before I had it right.'''