Recensori in anteprimaRichard Greene

The "Collected Poems" contains poems by Richard Greene from the 1950s to the 2020s. Richard Greene has been writing poetry intensively since he retired from a 38-year career in international development in the mid-1990s. A lawyer by training, he fell into his development career by accident when, after law school, though planning not to practice law but interested in international affairs, he accepted an unsolicited job offer from the U.S. Agency for International Development. After a few years in Washington (or Foggy Bottom, as the location of the U.S. foreign policy establishment is known), he was assigned as legal advisor to the USAID mission in Laos and there discovered that the development business suited his interests and inclinations very well. Greene wrote poetry beginning in the 8th grade and continued through college where he studied with a Professor, Henry Rago, who later became editor of Poetry magazine, the leading U.S. poetry journal. However, he wrote few poems after law school as he became absorbed in international development, but turned back to poetry as he neared retirement.

Richard Greene has been writing poetry intensively since he retired from a 38-year career in international development in the mid-1990s. A lawyer by training, he fell into his development career by accident when, after law school, though planning not to practice law but interested in international affairs, he accepted an unsolicited job offer from the U.S. Agency for International Development. After a few years in Washington (or Foggy Bottom, as the location of the U.S. foreign policy establishment is known), he was assigned as legal advisor to the USAID mission in Laos and there discovered that the development business suited his interests and inclinations very well. Greene wrote poetry beginning in the 8th grade and continued through college where he studied with a Professor, Henry Rago, who later became editor of Poetry magazine, the leading U.S. poetry journal. However, he wrote few poems after law school as he became absorbed in international development, but turned back to poetry as he neared retirement.

A collection of poems describing the exterior world, such as: Orinocos of the Imagination I’ve never been to the Orinoco and have seen few photos of it, but I feel I know its sinuous lengths, winding between thick jungle walls, flashing silver in the sun, delicate waterfalls threading from cloud-shrouded cliffs, dense foliage adorned with birds of kindergarten colors and jaguars that merge into shadow, the insistent music of bird cry and monkey chatter, dugouts and caimans scoring its sleek waters, those who people its valley gliding nearly naked through twilight forests, dappled by the distant sun. I know these lush landscapes from my dreams.

A collection of poems on aging, such as: I See Myself Becoming Old My closet is full of suits I don't wear anymore. Nothing I need to wear them for. There are days when I stay in my pajamas till noon. I picture my heirs looking at my wardrobe one day asking "Can you think of anyone who can use these or should we give them to Goodwill?" Or, "Would you like this tie as a remembrance of Dad?" As I read the obits of the recently deceased, which I took to doing a few years ago, I compare their ages to mine. Then there's the arthritis in my hands and feet. My left foot aches when I walk and I suffered a rupture in a time-worn tendon not long ago. I have more trouble lifting things and getting around. Don't jump over puddles anymore for fear of the damage I might do coming down. (No more kicking up heels for me.) What will it be next, the incipient cataracts? My hearing isn't what it used to be. I don't think I need a hearing aid yet, though my daughter disagrees. Or will it be something unforeseen like that ill-fated tendon? I see myself becoming old, yet it's as if I were watching it happen to somebody else.

The Broken Guitar by Richard Greene is a collection of poems about war: Memorial Reading the name of a young man who died in war saddens us. Yet more the names of thousands engraved in granite, or marble, their parents’ hopes and dreams interred in stone. All that remains are a few keepsakes, and memories of newborns, toddlers, vulnerable boys, youths becoming men, those now sad memories, and names carved in cold stone. Who wanted those wars? Their leaders of course, but all too often those same young men, and all too often those who mourn for them.

A book of aphorisms for these trying times. A few examples of Mr Greene's aphorisms: Sex wouldn't be so nearly interesting if it weren't so widely forbidden. The truly strong are those who aren't driven by the need to prove their strength. Lawyers, actors and politicians must fool others. In the process they often fool themselves. We tend to forget that not all mothers are saints, nor all soldiers heroes. The most important measure of civilization is compassion, not technology, culture, sophisticated institutions, power or the gross national product.