R.I.P., Rod McKuen

I just read that poet Rod McKuen died this week. When I was going through my poetry obsession in my teens, Rod McKuen was one of the poets that I read repeatedly. So much poetry was difficult for me to understand; it was just a collection of pretty words. I enjoyed the rhythm but didn't really get the overall meaning. McKuen's work seemed more down-to-earth to me. Running across his obituary today makes me want to revisit his work and poetry in general to see if 30-odd years of life experience will bring me more understanding.