As My Age Then Was, So I Understood Them
- 230 pages
- 9 hours of reading
A career-spanning volume drawn from forty years of work and a selection of new poems, Stephen Corey's writing is intelligent, moving, and engaging. Each poem is beautiful, effortless, and thought-provoking, showcasing a range of style and subject matter, depth of thought and emotion, and an affectionate voice. The opening poem instructs readers on how to find a faded leaf, a metaphor for the end of life, and this theme resonates throughout the book. Corey's exploration of the world reveals familiar things—Monarch butterflies, telephones, calligraphy, and bread—through a lens that shows how "we are growing undoes what we are." In a sequence that covers centuries, he reflects on how a life we love can be steered beyond our control. The collection also features elegies and playful interactions with literary figures, blending the real world with poetic exploration. Corey's work invites readers to live beyond themselves, embodying the highest praise for art.