Linda Pastan, “Ethics”

Today, needing five minutes of solace, I closed my computer screen, walked to my bookshelves, and grabbed An Introduction to Poetry by X.J. Kennedy (7th edition). My father had assigned it for a poetry class I took from him about twenty(!) years ago.

On page 359, by chance, I found a beauty: “Ethics,” by Linda Pastan. The full text is here. More about Pastan (b. 1932) is here.

Photograph by Margaretta K. Mitchell

Linda Pastan, photograph by Margaretta K. Mitchell

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About Tom Simpson

Tom Simpson teaches religion, ethics, and philosophy at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH. Born in 1975 in Olean, NY, he earned the Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of Virginia, where he specialized in American religious history. He writes, teaches, and lectures about religion in America, popular culture, Mormonism, and Bosnia. He lives in Exeter with his partner, Alexis Simpson, and their two children.
This entry was posted in Art, Ethics, Gender, Poetry and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Linda Pastan, “Ethics”

  1. Great poem. I’m glad I read it: thanks!

  2. IngaHel says:

    Just one word, wow.

  3. Thank you for this poem, Tom.

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