One great poem to read today: Sam Riviere’s “Myself Included”

This April marks the 30th iteration of National Poetry Month, which was launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996. To celebrate, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending one great poem to read every (work) day of the month. We make no claim (except when we do) that these poems are the “best” poems in any category; they are simply poems we love. The only other thing they all have in common is that they are available to read for free online, so you can enjoy them along with us. The internet is still good for some things, after all. Today we recommend:

Sam Riviere’s “Myself Included”

I came to Sam Riviere first through his fiction (Dead Souls is an underappreciated debut you should all consider reading, especially before his second novel hits later this year) and then discovered his fabulous micropress, If A Leaf Falls, and only then did I realize he’s a poet of some renown. Even better, he’s a poet whose work captures the rhythms of my own brain—which is not a necessity for great poetry, but it does keep me coming back for more.

This is an older piece and his work has matured in some ways since—but I love the way that “Myself Included” captures a particular facet of growing up: the moment when you realize that experience is not, in fact, everything. The narrator visits America, loses touch with himself, can perhaps see or speak with the dead (“Not really!”), and so much more. It’s almost a short story’s worth of storytelling but wrapped up into a poem (which I love, in both directions) and one that feels if not exactly like my own twenty-something revelations from the late 2000s/early 2010s, then somehow all the more accurate for being distinct.

PS his most recent collection, Mirrors for Princes, is out from a poet-run press run by two friends of mine who live in my neck of the woods. The press is called After Hours Editions and if you like good poetry, you should pick up some work from their shop!

Read the full poem here.