Opus Posthumous and Other Poems

As he enters his sixth decade of publishing poetry David R. Slavitt remains a determined wildcatter who ranges as far as he thinks necessary to drill for meaning wherever and however he can get it. In his new collection Slavitt traverses Africa India Israel and the America in which he finds himself complete with visits to zoos casinos baseball fields and cemeteries as he searches for clues from which he might learn at least a little. He translates verse from Yiddish and Provençal and offers commentaries on received wisdom everyday events and the vagaries of existence.. With Opus Posthumous and Other Poems?the title is a joke as he remains very much alive?Slavitt presents an august work possessed of a richness toward which he has worked throughout his long life. By turns wry erudite and dyspeptic this new volume offers ample rewards of his maturity.