By the way, Minnesota picked their first poet laureate last week

And they picked Robert Bly.

I remember watching Bly read back in the 20th century when I was attending the University of Cincinnati. He was a funny and engaging reader. Minnesota made a great choice in picking someone named Robert. (In fact, I'm rather partial to anyone with the initials R.B.)

Here are some pieces covering last week's big announcement:

* "Robert Bly named Minnesota's first poet laureate," by Associated Press

* "Greg Sellnow: A cluttered mind yields random thoughts," by Greg Sellnow

* "A Poet Laureate for Minnesota," by The New York Times

Interestingly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty actually experienced a change of heart on creating a post for the state poet laureate. In 2005, he actually vetoed a poet laureate bill fearing it would lead to more frivolous state appointments. So hooray for flip-flopping on the issues, I suppose.

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Here are some Bly poems I could find online (for those who've not read his work):

* "A Dream of Suffocation" (and other poems)

* "Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter"

* "Gratitude to Old Teachers"

* "The Moon"

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