Rabindranath Tagore: Face to Face
Under thy great sky in solitude and silence,
with humble heart shall I stand before thee face to face.
Doug Anderson: The Fool
At seventy-five I find myself in love.
Not the serene love of an old man
steeped in the wine and wisdom of years,
but one who would kill a dragon for her.
Miriam Levine: Daylight Savings
There’s more light than anyone would need.
At six o’clock the sky is bright.
I have my friend’s last poem to read.
Elizabeth Romero: Day’s End
Let’s say I’m someone
empty as a pitcher,
discordant as traffic, human as an alley cat,
stiff-legged and torn-eared.
Laure-Anne Bosselaar: On My Walk to the Hospital, Death
Death in the fog, all silver
& grisaille as it wreathes
& muffles children in the park.
Yana Djin: And when I looked up at the sky
And when I looked up at the sky —
hazy and blind.
With the crescent purple and yellow like an eye
after a fight.
Sally Bliumis-Dunn: Sea Turtles Mating
To be amazed at her luck
or pity her trials
Connie Post: Iron Will
I still see her, standing there
fastening a floral apron
tripping on the cord of her own life
Chris Moran: After Reading Akhmatova
What can I name my grief, again, today?
A nickel frozen in the sidewalk?
A tumbling paper bag?
Lindsey Royce: Packing His Things
Now, I long for one of those shirts,
his scent of sweat and paint,
to cover the dent on his side of the bed
Eva-Maria Simms: Muzot in Winter
A scholar and translator makes a pilgrimage to the Swiss castle where Rainer Maria Rilke finished the Duino Elegies and received the gift of all 55 Sonnets to Orpheus.
Edna St. Vincent Millay: Humoresque
“What queer books she must have read!”
Video: Tom Lehrer | The Vatican Rag & Send the Marines
What do we do? We send the Marines!
For might makes right,
And till they’ve seen the light,
They’ve got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
‘Till somebody we like can be elected.
Amiri Baraka: The Liar
What I thought was love
in me, I find a thousand instances
of fear.
