JM in IN

Poets from Indiana, John Matthias

Wait, that's John Matthias. I know, you're probably like, why wasn't he the first poet on the list for Indiana? After all, he studied under John Berryman and Yvor Winters. He rubbed elbow patches with Robert Hass and Robert Pinsky. He was at Notre Dame when the MFA started, edited The Notre Dame Review, and joked around with other amazing writers like Steve Tomasula and Joyelle McSweeney (I suppose, though I haven't heard any stories). And, finally, he's the poet that Robert Archambeau is always talking about, so you know his work is amazing. 

He grew up in Ohio and went to The Ohio State U and Stanford, but he's been in South Bend long enough to be claimed as someone with "deep Indiana roots." I'm sure that some of his many books were written along the banks of the St. Joseph River. 

One of my favorites is "After Quevedo." Quevedo himself writes insightfully about death, and Matthias' poem picks up that theme. 

not even lost in death, memoria,

and feeling some reply, alma, memory and ash,

ash burning still, still

and moving toward you, dust and dust, ash

             alma and amor constante

             más allá de la muerte, constant

You can find the entire poem here, though ton't stop there though, definitely check out his collections.