Wyn Cooper

The first two lines of this poem instantly tell the reader to be prepared for darkness, for the news of the title to be bad news. The poem then works its way to its chilling conclusion, "she follows me from room to room with open eyes." What strikes me about the poem most is the empathy Kurt displays, the careful use of language to build a poem that shows us how he feels about the poor, the hungry, the murdered. It's an empathy that matches his own personality. The second thing that strikes me about the poem is how dark it is. Kurt's poems became darker as he grew older, though he remained the same even-tempered, generous person to the end.

I think I picked this poem because of the title; those of us who knew and loved Kurt Brown are still living with the news that he's no longer with us. Our world's a little darker, a little smaller, but we have his poems, and that is the good news.