"Only the monsters do not have troubled hearts. Life is for troubled hearts. Art is for troubled hearts. For my whole life, Hamlet has been a bridge between. Hamlet's Now, mother, what's the matter?' is life on earth. Something is always the matter, and not just for mothers. (As I write this, the Angelus rings.) Every character in Hamlet is troubled, there are no monsters in it."
"Richard W Halperin was born in Chicago to an Irish mother, and an American father with Russian ancestry. Early in his childhood the family moved to New York. He taught for a short period at Hunter College, and subsequently made a career in education administration, latterly with Unesco in Paris, where he currently lives. Now, Mother, What's the Matter? is from the New Poems section of All the Tattered Stars: Selected and New Poems published by Salmon Poetry in 2023 to celebrate Halperin's 80th birthday."
Life is presented as inherently troubled, and art is framed as belonging to troubled hearts. Hamlet functions as a bridge between life and art, with every character portrayed as troubled and no monsters present. Uncertainty about the nature of art is expressed alongside references to Edward Thomas's 'Adlestrop', The Portrait of a Lady, and The Pilgrim's Progress. Biographical details include birth in Chicago to an Irish mother and a father of Russian ancestry, childhood relocation to New York, brief teaching at Hunter College, and a later UNESCO career in Paris. Selected and new poems appeared in All the Tattered Stars (Salmon Poetry, 2023).
Read at www.theguardian.com
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