Poetry
Grace We tell ourselves the truth at random times: what we crave from the menu, what sounds ridiculous on film. Otherwise, we hoard secrets: brown mice building a nest in the center of the woodpile, …
A boat, beneath a sunny sky Lingering onward dreamily In an evening of July — Children three that nestle near, Eager eye and willing ear Pleased a simple tale to hear — Long has paled …
The Young Fools High-heels were struggling with a full-length dress So that, between the wind and the terrain, At times a shining stocking would be seen, And gone too soon. We liked that foolishness. Also, …
Cats They are alike, prim scholar and perfervid lover: When comes the season of decay, they both decide Upon sweet, husky cats to be the household pride; Cats choose, like them, to sit, and like …
Cardinal in a Cage No London Tower racks my wretched frame, No dynast’s wrath bears down upon my neck. Brave words unvoiced by Thomas gilt his name. Alas, my feeble words bring mine to wreck. …
Hummingbird tries to perch on two crossed branches *** Traffic lights play catch with yellow one block apart *** Tap away at her eyes long enough/// hit winter streams *** Arm unswept, stillborn shout... crows …
Novel I. No one’s serious at seventeen. —On beautiful nights when beer and lemonade And loud, blinding cafés are the last thing you need —You stroll beneath green lindens on the promenade. Lindens smell fine …
Her Reply If all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd’s tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee and be thy Love. But Time drives flocks from …
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountain yields. And we will …
Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sin was too much hope of thee, lov’d boy. Seven years thou’wert lent to me, and I thee pay, Exacted by thy fate, on the …
Corinna’s Going A-Maying Get up, get up for shame, the blooming Morn Upon her wings presents the god unshorn. See how Aurora throws her fair Fresh-quilted colours through the air; Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and …
Babysitter under the Bed The woman who had once been My babysitter Was on the floor under the bed, She was on top of newspapers, Looking out at the three of us, Her husband, my …
Hidatsa Scarecrow Woman My “wicked” scheme to scare the crow: alongside Scattered Corn, I, Turtle, prepare balled skins of deer, clad in a kirtle. Two gangly sticks for legs I pound across the hills of …
Something Nasty in the Bookshop Between the Gardening and the Cookery Comes the brief Poetry shelf; By the Nonesuch Donne, a thin anthology Offers itself. Critical, and with nothing else to do, I scan the …
Calmly We Walk through This April Day Calmly we walk through this April’s day, Metropolitan poetry here and there, In the park sit pauper and rentier, The screaming children, the motor-car Fugitive about us, running …
Robinson The dog stops barking after Robinson has gone. His act is over. The world is a gray world, Not without violence, and he kicks under the grand piano, The nightmare chase well under way. …