Congratulations to Stanley Plumly, Maryland's new poet laureate. The honorary position entails staging public readings around the state. Baltimore Sun reporter Laura Smitherman lyrically covered Thursday's announcement by Gov. Martin O’Malley; here's an excerpt:

Plumly, 70, founded the master of fine arts program in creative writing at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he’s a professor. He is the author of nine books of poetry, including "Old Heart," which won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Most recently, he wrote "Posthumous Keats," a "personal biography" of poet John Keats. ...

Alice McDermott, an award-winning author and Johns Hopkins University professor who chaired the selection committee, said Plumly was the unanimous choice. She called reading his work "an exercise in both humility and gratitude" and said of all poets: "Their gift is our gift."

To quote Plumly himself: "Being able to speak with a certain amount of clarity what's in your mind and in your heart seems to me to be inseparable from having a happy life."

On October 29-30, the University of Maryland will host "A Celebration of Stanley Plumly and Poetry," to highlight his work and the importance of poetry.  In the meantime, here are a couple of his poems: Now That My Father Lies Down Beside Me and Still Missing the Jays.