"I myself am interested in a kind of structural investigation of the line, an attempt at some kind of harmonics involving new patterns and new designs using a long image-freighted line (the odd marriage of Emily and Walt) that can carry information (and 'sincerity' and a lyric intensity at the same time. Not only will it sing, but it will tell time too. Or as Fats Domino once observed, 'I don't want to bury the lyrics, man; I want 'em to understand what I'm saying.'"

Halflife is captivating. Charles Wright, in disclosing the contents of his journal, reveals the influence of Ezra Pound, Eugenio Montale, Emily Dickinson, Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, and country music legend A.P. Carter.