February, 2012Archive

Feb 29

On the Home Front — 1942 (Denby)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on On the Home Front — 1942 (Denby)

On the Home Front — 1942, by Edwin Denby (1903-1983) Because Jim insulted Harry eight years previous By taking vengeance for a regular business loss Forwardlooking Joe hints that Leslie’s devious Because who stands to lose by it, why you yourself boss. Figures can’t lie so it’s your duty to keep control You’ve got ot […]

Feb 28

Winter Dawn (Slessor)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on Winter Dawn (Slessor)

Winter Dawn, by Kenneth Slessor (1901-1971) At five I wake, rise, rub on the smoking pane A port to see—water breathing in the air, Boughs broken. The sun comes up in a golden stain, Floats like a glassy sea-fruit. There is mist everywhere, White and humid, and the Harbour is like plated stone, Dull flakes […]

Feb 27

The Room in Which My First Child Slept (Boland)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on The Room in Which My First Child Slept (Boland)

The Room in Which My First Child Slept, by Eavan Boland (1944-) After a while I thought of it this way: It was a town underneath a mountain crowned by snow and every year a river rushed through, enveloping the dusk in a noise everyone knew signaled spring— a small town, known for a kind […]

Feb 26

Because our waiters are hopeless romantics (Beeder)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on Because our waiters are hopeless romantics (Beeder)

Because our waiters are hopless romantics, by Amy Beeder (1964-)   the plates are broken after just one meal: plates that mimic lily pads or horseshoe crabs,               swifts’ wings, golden koi, whirlpools, blowholes in rictus:               all smashed against the table’s edge—   . . . also our chef eschews pepper & salt               for violets & vespers & squid […]

Feb 25

Morning Arrives (Wright)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on Morning Arrives (Wright)

Morning Arrives, by Franz Wright (1953-) Morning arrives unannounced by limousine: the tall emaciated chairman   of sleeplessness in person steps out on the sidewalk and donning black glasses, ascends the stairs to your building   guided by a German shepherd. After a couple faint knocks at the door, he slowly opens the book of […]

Feb 24

Milk Snake (Redshaw)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on Milk Snake (Redshaw)

Milk Snake, by Thomas Dillon Redshaw (1944-) Wild mushrooms know their names. We call them toadstools while they crouch in the invisible daylight under the birches that lean over a yellow field you cross into the sun ahead of me.   A stone wall sways behind us. You picked the rush pannier, I the book […]

Feb 23

Belly Dancer (Wakoski)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on Belly Dancer (Wakoski)

Belly Dancer, by Diane Wakoski (1937-) Can these movements which move themselves be the substance of my attraction? Where does this thin green silk come from that covers my body? Surely any woman wearing such fabrics would move her body just to feel them touching every part of her.   Yet most of the women […]

Feb 22

Rembrandt’s Late Self-Portraits (Jennings)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on Rembrandt’s Late Self-Portraits (Jennings)

Rembrandt’s Late Self-Portraits, by Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001) You are confronted with yourself. Each year The pouches fill, the skin is uglier. You give it all unflinchingly. You stare Into yourself, beyond. Your brush’s care Runs with self-knowledge. Here   Is a humility at one with craft. There is no arrogance. Pride is apart From this […]

Feb 21

Address to A Child During A Boisterous Winter Evening (D. Wordsworth)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on Address to A Child During A Boisterous Winter Evening (D. Wordsworth)

Address to A Child During A Boisterous Winter Evening, by Dorothy Wordsworth (1771-1855) What way does the wind come? What way does he go? He rides over the water, and over the snow, Through wood, and through vale; and o’er rocky height, Which the goat cannot climb, takes his sounding flight; He tosses about in […]

Feb 20

I Say I Say I Say (Armitage)

Posted in Uncategorized, Comments Off on I Say I Say I Say (Armitage)

I Say I Say I Say, by Simon Armitage (1963-) Anyone here had a go at themselves for a laugh? Anyone opened their wrists with a blade in the bath? Those in the dark at the back, listen hard. Those at the front in the know, those of us who have, hands up, let’s show […]

Words That Burn