Say what you will about the current Pope, but he has just done something that no other human being has done for 600 years - he has resigned as Pope. The Papacy is an extraordinary seat of power to relinquish - he is the spiritual leader of a billion souls, invested with extraordinary duties and responsibilities. The Petrine role is unique, and those who see the Church as power-mad and corrupt will be - or should be - taken aback by the Christlike abnegation of power. By making way for a younger man (and, alas, it will be a man this time), he is doing the Church a great favour. The Pope - my Pope - is not someone it is easy to agree with on a number of subjects - but on the need for less war, less capitalism, and more environmental sterwardship, he has spoken out wisely. I wish him well; it would be unChristian to do otherwise.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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