Review of "My Skeleton" by Jane Hirshfield

"My Skeleton" by Jane Hirshfield was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on October 14, 2013.  A link to the poem may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23720

Jane Hirshfield (b. 1953) is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and winner of many awards and fellowships.  She has published numerous books of poetry and translated many others.  A more detailed biography of the poet may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/563?utm_source=PAD%3A+My+Skeleton+by+Jane+Hirshfield&utm_campaign=poemaday_101413&utm_medium=email

Ms. Hirshfield here writes about a phenomenon that also has fascinated me--that the skeleton constantly shrinks as we age.  It is a shame that she did not also include the perhaps even more interesting fact that the skeleton is a dynamic, living thing constantly being remodeled, reshaped, and replaced depending upon hormonal cues and calcium needs.  As far as she goes, there are some moving images created by her metaphors that describe the skeleton as a body within the body, always there to hold the body in its rigid, inner embrace.  Still, I believe she missed an opportunity here to push her concept even further.