Laure-Anne Bosselaar: First Day of the Year
It is early. A bird flies deep into the sky —
into that large silence
David Kirby: My Unhealthy Relationship with Life as We Know It
I’m fit to be tied, life. I’ve had it up to here. If you consisted of nothing but clichés, catchphrases, adages, old saws, mottos, slogans, and apothegms, we wouldn’t have … Continue reading
Video: CB750
Director Taylor Hawkins gives us a portrait of Stephen Guglielmo and his vintage motorcycle.
Jose Padua: A Free Jazz Solo for the New Wave Sky
a Saturday afternoon when summer was a deep blue heaven
I could crawl into with my hands waving in the air like long goodbyes
as soon as the sky turned dark
Robert Frost: Revelation
We make ourselves a place apart
Behind light words that tease and flout,
But oh, the agitated heart
Till someone find us really out.
Video: Brian Cox reads “If I Must Die” by Refaat Alareer
“They tried to kill Refaat but ended up making him immortal.”
Charles Davidson: Rachel Weeping at Bethlehem
“Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. . . . As her soul was … Continue reading
Pascale Petit: I asked if I could leave the earth
There was a word for what was wrong with me
but no word for the troubles on earth.
Tony Gloeggler: New House
I try
not to think of all the time I spent
going over what went wrong
between us, how badly I missed
who I wanted her to be
A.E. Housman: White in the moon the long road lies
The world is round, so travellers tell,
And straight though reach the track,
Trudge on, trudge on, ’twill all be well,
The way will guide one back.
Nasser Rabah: On the Birthday of the War
When I return from the war, if I do,
don’t look into my eyes,
do not see what I saw.
Arlene Weiner: December Vigil
I think of Jeff and Mike, who won’t need
next year’s calendars, Mike saying
These are my last poems. Tomorrow
is not promised, some people say.
Sydney Lea: What Shines?
Astonishing, this never-ending effort
to have had a happy childhood. Why does it matter
now, why will yourself into all that forgetting?
She may have been a good mother– at least she tried.
Barbara Hamby: Ode on Words for Parties (American Edition)
Why do we have so many words for parties, a slew
of them once you start looking: shindig, bash,
meet-and-greets, raves, blowouts, barbecues,
and more tepid functions, receptions, luncheons
