Come Closer and Listen: New Poems

An insightful and haunting new collection from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic

Irreverent and sly, observant and keenly imagined, Come Closer and Listen is the latest work from one of our most beloved poets. With his trademark sense of humor, open-hearted empathy, and perceptive vision, Charles Simic roots his poetry in the ordinary world while still taking in the wide sweep of the human experience.

From poems pithy, wry, and cutting—“Time—that murderer/that no has caught yet”—to his layered reflections on everything from love to grief to the wonders of nature, from the story of St. Sebastian to that of a couple weeding side by side, Simic’s work continues to reveal to us an unmistakable voice in modern poetry. An innovator in form and a chronicler of both our interior lives and the people we are in the world, Simic remains one of our most important and lasting voices on the page.

Simic’s genius is finding the universe in a single moment.

• Observational Poetry: Finds extraordinary meaning in the most ordinary scenes—from a late-night laundromat to a couple weeding their garden side by side.
• Wry Humor: Short, cutting lines that capture the absurdity of life with a sly smile, including the unforgettable description of Time as ‘that murderer that no has caught yet.’
• Accessible Poetry: An unmistakable and welcoming voice that speaks directly to our interior lives, making profound ideas feel as intimate as a conversation.
• Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet: The latest collection from Charles Simic, a master of contemporary American poetry and one of the most vital and celebrated voices of our time.

“Simic...has always challenged and delighted his audience with writing that is beautiful and surreal and forces people to consider the validity of their own perceptions.” - Washington Post

“One of our finest poets... singularly engaging, eminently sane...” - New York Review of Books

“His poetry … is comic and elegiac in equal measure. It has an Old World sensibility…that he pins to a New World lightness of heart.” - Dwight Garner, New York Times