Shakespeare's Shorts: Matthew Lippman, poet

F***ing Shakespeare

Matthew Lippman’s most recent collection, Mesmerizingly Sadly Beautiful, is the winner of the Levis prize from Four Way Books. He is the author of four other poetry collections—A Little Gut Magic, American Chew, Monkey Bars, and The New Year of Yellow.

It was a delight to talk to Matthew about poetry, baseball, music, unfinished basements, and a world-saving moment discussing this astounding video with Bobby McFerrin about neuroscience and the pentatonic scale that Lippman references in his own TedX Talk. Share both videos far and wide for what ails you.

We will say this about Matthew’s collection: during this time, when things seem to continue to fall apart each day in new and horrifying ways, these poems feel like they will “love you many times from pockets, from sandwiches… from a rooftop with billowy sheets.” And that feels pretty damn good right now.

Also, check out Lippman’s web-based project Love’s Executive Order, “dedicated to posting one poem a week that is directly related to the presidency of Donald Trump. A protest. A commentary. A running rumination on this part of our American story.”

Find more of his work at his website.