But a quick visit to Twitter reveals that Hirshfield remains as vital a modern voice – and a provider of social media memes, of all things – as anyone in 2018. The line, “How fragile we are between the few good moments,” from Hirshfield’s poem “Vinegar and Oil” in her 2011 book, Come, Thief, has been shared seemingly countless times on Twitter, as both a reflection during personal hardship and, perhaps, how many feel within the relentless news cycle of the Trump Era.
In the context of the latter, Hirshfield has not shied away from expressing her views of the Trump administration. According to the New York Times, the “self-described ‘genuine introvert,'” who “likes to spend her days gardening, hiking and writing verses about nature, impermanence and interconnectedness” at her Mill Valley cottage, successfully urged the organizers of the 2017 March for Science in Washington to make poetry part of the protest.
At the event, Hirshfield read her then-new poem “On the Fifth Day,” which addresses climate change denial and the Trump administration’s dismantling of environmental regulations. “I’ve never done anything like that before,” Hirshfield told the Times. “I don’t even give dinner parties.”
Hirshfield will share the breadth and depth of her work at a reading of her poems and essays at the Outdoor Art Club on Thursday, Feb. 1. 7:30pm. Light refreshments will be served. Free.
The 411: Jane Hirshfield will read from her poems and essays at the Outdoor Art Club on Thursday, Feb. 1. 7:30pm. Light refreshments will be served. Free.