PositiveArtforumMany poets write poems about paintings; few, I think, have cared more for the art than Carson, and found a stronger, simpler way of saying so. Every poem in the book is infused with the prospect of the poet’s death. None is maudlin ... There are poems in Still Life about Velázquez and Poussin, but don’t worry, the book isn’t bent on telling you that the old masters were never wrong about suffering.