My commitment to poetry began, perhaps curiously, by working my way through poems, word by word – even syllable by syllable – in foreign languages, rather than in English. The early impact of the great German, French and Russian poets has been a lasting influence on my work. My career has been in the corporate world, rather than academia.Mornings I walk a golden retriever whose nose does far more thorough research than I ever did as a graduate student, and I play tennis with the hopelessly optimistic attitude of actually getting better even as I get older. Thus, nose as it were to the ground and imagination soaring, daily I receive powerful stimulants to poetic thinking.
I live and work in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, and in summers on Lake Winnisquam in New Hampshire, always overlooking woods and water. In addition to contributing poems to literary magazines, for 5 years I was co-managing editor of Inprint.
My Poems have appeared in Main Street Rag, New York Quarterly, Ibbetson Street, Wisconsin Review, and other magazines.
Published 2008
Published 2008
Mali Poems
Published 2009
The I in India and US
Published 2012
Read selected poems
Comments from Readers on CONFESSIONS
“ … incredibly written. I hung on every word. I am filled with awe and respect for your ability to write as you do”
“a deliciously available, humorous and often poignant look at the process of ego and how we catch glimpses of ourselves in relation to our Universe”
To Clague, poetry represents a new-found philosophy, a way of life, a creative process that soothes the frazzled edges of our human rat race.
-Review by Laurel Johnson, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Llyn Clague devotes his fourth book of poetry to memories of a trip to
Ask at the outset:
why a passel of poems
about a trip to
*************
Isn’t it about the grit and flower of the world,
not the acrobatics of language?
*************
…the essence of a trip abroad
is in the soft implosion at a child’s smile,
the needle-like eureka! at the why
of a strange custom, and the hollow in the belly
at how some fellow humans pass their lives –
what happens when the external world
hits us.
Clague accompanies the fortunate readers of this book as our poetic guide through scenes that vibrate like shimmering sunlight. The delightful giggle of a Malian child, the spinning of colorful garments and communal firing of pottery, the cacophony of open air markets, all come alive through Clague’s skillfully woven words. If you’ve never been to
-Review by Laurel Johnson, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Comments from Readers on Glass Door Knob
"This collection is Clague at his best."
"His poems are, by turn, whimsical, euphoric, poignant, and wistful." "
A must-read -- and what a joy!"
Comments from Readers on The I in India and US
"Llyn Clague's India poems show his keen and often irreverent powers of observation that evoke both the sensory and spiritual aspects of that fascinating culture."
"The vitality, even visceral quality of Clague's writing shows through in every verse."
"An adventure of discovery -- of the other, of the self."