This is Episode 114 of Poems for the Speed of Life.

Today's poem is "On the Move" by Thom Gunn.

Thom Gunn was an English-born American poet who died in 2004 at the age of 74. He published almost 20 collections of poems and essays in his lifetime.

After moving to the US in his early 20s he taught writing at Stanford University, and in the California of the 60s and 70s, the scene of acid trips and exploratory experiences, he was a willing participant. He was in a lifelong relationship with his partner Mike Kitay. THe pair met at college in the 50s and were together until Gunn’s death more than half a century later.

This poem On the Move is I think, as much as anything, a poem about “maleness”. About the masculine urge for doing, for ambition, for motion, for movement, for pressing our on what surrounds us. There are hints of male fragility too: at how we men tend to cover up our weaknesses. We “strap in doubt by hiding it, robust”.

You can read "On the Move" by Thom Gunn here.

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Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onsound.eu/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com