Repost: Number Eleven

For Brian Doyle's Birthday

I have it in mind we’re close to or on Brian Doyle’s birthday, therefore I’m reposting ( and redrafting ) my eleventh sonnet that was dedicated to him. A brief bio and some links for readers unfamiliar with this great writer’s work will be below after the poem.

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If this is the first you’ve heard of Brian Doyle, then I am so happy to bring him to you. For a primer of his nonfiction, look to this tribute from The Sun Magazine.

One of the most beautiful elegies of the September 11th attacks is written by Brian Doyle.

Every year at his birthday and on the day he died, Jessica and I read out loud from his Book of Uncommon Prayer. He also wrote fiction, and you should pick up “Mink River” from your local bookstore: it may surpass even “Sometimes A Great Notion” as one of the best books set in the Pacific Northwest.