POEMS OF WIT AND INSIGHT

AFTER ALL: Last Poems

By William Matthews

Mariner Books, 55 pages, $13

Poet William Matthews died in 1997 at age 55. This posthumous collection of poetry, the last of his 12 books, shows Matthews’ trademark wit and insight into modern mores. In “Promiscuous,” he addresses the ways dictionaries have altered their definitions of the term over the years–from the benign “mixes easily” to the bracingly clinical. In “Job Interview,” an unenthusiastic job candidate privately congratulates himself on speaking “fluent Fog.”