“I did not know the work of mourningIs like carrying a bag of cementUp a mountain at nightThe mountaintop is not in sightBecause there is no mountaintopPoor Sisyphus griefI did not know I would struggleThrough a ragged underbrushWithout an upward path...Look closely and you will seeAlmost everyone carrying bagsOf cement on their shouldersThat’s why it takes courageTo get out of bed in the morningAnd climb into the day.”

American poet and critic

Edward Hirsch is an American poet and critic. He is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in New York City, and he is known for his books on poetry as well as his work as a poet. He has published nine books of poems, including The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems, which gathers thirty-five years of work, and Gabriel: A Poem, a book-length elegy for his son. He has also written five prose books about poetry, among them a national bestseller on reading poetry.