Larry Eigner

We observe another birth date as we consider the poems of Larry Eisner (August 7, 1927 – February 3, 1996), American poet of the second half of the twentieth century and one of the principal figures of the Black Mountain School.

Eigner wrote over three thousand poems on a manual Royal typewriter with the thumb and index finger of his right hand. Disabled by a forceps injury at birth, he lived with cerebral palsy his whole life; able to walk only with support or assistance, he made his way through the world in a wheelchair.

From The Sustaining Air

from the sustaining air
fresh air

There is the clarity of a shore

And shadow, mostly, brilliance

summer
the billows of August

When, wandering, I look from my page
I say nothing
when asked

I am, finally, an incompetent, after all

--Larry Eigner