You made it! Every day this week, the Book Review presented a new essay, game and series of celebrity readings to help you memorize a delightful poem. To finish off, we hear from the Book Review’s editor, Gilbert Cruz. Dear readers, I have long been intimidated by the idea of memorizing things. “My brain doesn’t work that way!” I stubbornly think, somehow forgetting that the lyrics to many thousands of songs are lodged somewhere in my mind, implanted there by the force of sheer repetition. “My brain doesn’t work that way!” I stubbornly think, somehow forgetting that I still remember a good chunk of “Recuerdo,” the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem that was the focus of our Poetry Challenge last year. At least once a week, the words “We were very tired, we were very merry” come to mind. How foolish of me to have been so scared, especially with such wonderful guides as A.O. Scott and Aliza Aufrichtig to help me along. This year, they have walked us all through W.H. Auden’s universe-encompassing “The More Loving One.” And, as we near the end of National Poetry Month and this year’s weeklong challenge, all this talk of love and stars, affection and the empty sky will knock around my brain until we see you all here next year. Same poetry place. Same poetry time.
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