by daithí
On April 19, Tim Mayo read from his recently published book of poetry, Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster (Bainbridge Press, 2026) at the Jaquith Library in Marshfield, Vermont. During the Question and Answer period–with poets Kim Ward, Bob Messing, and Sunshine–he shared something meaningful. Someone asked what influenced Tim as a poet. He told the audience that he was drawn to “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Howl” while in high school.
The next day, I dove into Mayo’s poetry, using T.S. Eliot’s and Allen Ginsberg’s poems as frameworks through which to view the collection. What I discovered was that such frameworks helped me to cull the essence of so many poems in his book.
Prufrock exclaims within Eliot’s poem; “I grow old, I grow old, I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.” In Tim Mayo’s case, he is not an anxiety-ridden existentialist like Prufrock. Instead, he becomes an older poet who has had a near-fatal accident when his bike collided with a car. The incident landed him in the hospital, where he experienced a near-death episode. He was, he told the audience at Jaquith, determined to finish the book and to honor the poet, Patricia Fargnoli. She had helped him with his compositions. And there are others whom he wished to include, such as his daughter, waning away in hospital.
Through his aging as well as through significant hospitalization– Mayo became vulnerable. That sensitivity plays out through poems about his tracheotomy, as well as poems about others near him who have died in hospitals.
But, how does “Howl” connect with vulnerability and sensitivity? Tim Mayo worked at the Brattleboro Retreat as a mental health worker and teacher for 15 years. He continues to work as an administrator there. Anyone familiar with Ginsberg’s masterpiece knows the opening line: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.” In many of Mayo’s poems, we witness lives of others who are caught in adolescent anger and suicidal ideation. Others are waiting for permanent placement somewhere else while in their own personal fog. They are the new Lost Generation.
What rings true throughout Mayo’s collection of poems is that there are people who act as supports and validators. And, not surprisingly, the precariousness of caring is what rescues us all. If you cannot see or feel your weaknesses, you cannot sense flaws in others. Our connections to one another, no matter how seemingly feeble, confirm our humanity.
A snippet of Tim Mayo reading from his book Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster at the Sunday Afternooon Poetry at the Jaquith event on April 19th, 2026. Video by Elizabeth McCarthy.
Tim Mayo will be the guest poet for the 2026 PSOV Spring Workshop on May 16th: AN EXPLORATION OF VOICE IN POETRY. Sign Up today.
You can find Tim’s new poetry book Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster on the Bainbridge Island Press website. Be sure to support member authors by purchasing a copy of their book(s.) Also, look for member books in your local independent bookstore( if not available, suggest they support Vermont poets and stock them.)