Chard deNiord: I Was Swimming
I was swimming with you in a river
that was both rushing and still.
Remember?
Chard deNiord: The Hand
a finger here, a knuckle
there, but never the hand al-
together, except in a vision
for which I’m loathe to take
any credit, even for a nail
Chard deNiord: “We Will Not Give Up on Each Other”: A Conversation with Major Jackson
We are living in an age of absurdity, but I am casting for wider seas.
Chard deNiord: Lizard, An Exegesis as Love Letter
So when you woke, there I was in my Sunday best as a funny little guy with a complex tongue and stunted legs who spoke the double truth.
Chard deNiord: Checklist
the red coal an angel places on the tongue like a treat
Chard deNiord: Last Goodbye in the Time of Corona
The darkness arrived without your voice
or touch, my love, and yet I heard
your voice and felt your hand in mine.
Chard deNiord: The Music of Being
Hold a hazelnut up to your eyes
as a lens for seeing through,
then wake to a katydid and say its name.
Chard deNiord: Open Letter to the President from a Citizen, August 21, 2019
I write to you, Mr. President, from inside
the cell in which you’ve locked the country
with ICE.
Chard deNiord: I stand beneath the mountain with an illiterate heart
The darkness of my sacred ignorance enlightens me.
Chard deNiord: Dispatch from Gaia
Mother’s cawing, “You must do what seems impossible now,
but you’ve done it before.”
Chard DeNiord: In my Unknowing
Oh taste and see. –Psalm 34, 8 . I was driving through the fields of Heaven when I realized I was still on Earth, because Earth was all I had … Continue reading
Chard DeNiord: At Auden’s Grave, September 1, 2016
“We must love one another or die.” — W.H. Auden What caused you to think it was a lie, Old Master—that either/or that gave you pause in “September 1, … Continue reading
Chard deNiord: Herr President
Ringed with a scum of chicken-necked bosses he toys with the tributes of half-men. — From “The Stalin Epigram” by Osip Mandelstam Have you no sense of decency, sir?— Joseph … Continue reading
Chard deNiord: Prophecy Against Those
They will grow ass’s ears and stand and stand like guards at the funerals of their own mothers. They will forget history as if it were a bad memory they … Continue reading
Vox Populi 