Paulo Henriques Britto: Lullaby
LullabyNight after night, exhausted,digesting the day, past wordsand this side of sleep, we lie simplified,stripped of past lives and projects,weary of voices and verticals,relieved to be only bodies side… More
Trompe l’oeil
Trompe l'oeilAll the failures of an existence,when meticulously compiled,and given a certain coherence,resemble a sort of pyramid—monumental—though truncated,maybe—when seen from a distanceat the precise moment the fadingsun reaches it,… More
Poems (1945-1971)
The CanaryThey stood him where the harshest wind blowsthey promised him to the froststhey gave him a black dressand a red tiea nail-punctured sun that drippedblack glassesblood… More
We Have the Right to Love Autumn
And we, too, have the right to love the last days of autumn and ask:/ Is there room in the field for a new autumn, so we may lie… More
One-Legged Walter
One-Legged WalterHe always made me wonder.Eyes crow-footed from sun,on snow.Body slumped,from slack times.He lived in Sullivan’s junk-yard,in a gutted ’51 Chevy.On the floorboard,tattered blankets, neatly sewn together,made his bed.Sunkist… More
Origami Heart
When I pick one up at mail call I feel it slide back and forth in the flimsy blue and red striped airmail envelope, a core of your words and so much emptiness enclosed. More
After a Bomb Threat
After a Bomb ThreatI am waved to a nichewithin a crowd of bodies,half of them stripping down,The remainder uniformed in blue.Here, I will bare myselfin the pallor of shame,have… More
Green Pants
I washed my pants today.I washed my green pants today.I washed them clean by hand.They’re a type of green that’s dark and thickA royal green, deep like bright leaves… More
from Directions to the Beach of the Dead
Mexican Almuerzo in New Englandfor M.G.Word is praise for Marina, up past 3:00 a.m. the night before her flight,preparing and packing the platos tradicionales she’s now heating up inthe… More
From The Man With My Face
The Father and the DaughterThere once was a girl who looked so much like herfather that no one in the town could tell them apart.Despite their difference in age… More
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