National poet laureates share reflections

While Americans gathered across the country in memorials to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a reflective crowd of famous bards quietly collected inside the Boston Public Library to share a collection of subtle but powerful poetry.

As National Poet Laureate Donald Hall began to read, he shared his work about aging and emotional poems about his wife's death. Robert Pinsky, a Boston University professor and former laureate, also shared his poems with literary fans.

Renowned poet Maxine Kumin offered up writings addressing the decadence of mankind and modern society, also taking time to dip into political issues such as the war in Iraq and lawmakers entangled in scandals.

"[I am] a helpless citizen of a country I used to love," she said in one poem.

Richard Wilbur, who took the stage last, used a series of nature-related metaphors to describe the human condition. In his first poem, Wilbur compared a crawling inchworm to progress in society. He said the poem will be published in a future issue of The New Yorker, which has printed more than 50 of his pieces since 1948.