“My Grave” and “Ripeness”
Every day I watch my grave in the yard / included in the price of the house, / with a board over the hole, / with a tombstone of… More
from “Muse & Drudge,” “Trimmings”
Swan neck, white shoulders, lumps of fat. A woman's face/above it all. Unriddled sphinx 'without secrets.' Alabaster/bust, paled into significance. Clothes opening, revealing/dress, as French comes into English. Suggestively,… More
“Tourist” and “Boat People”
Don’t take a picture of my burro / My burro’s load’s too heavy / And he’s too small / And he has no food here / Don’t take a… More
What Follows Us Now Must Soon Enough Be Carried
I can’t drink beers at 3 p.m. very often / or anytime soon live in San Francisco / because I am trying to be a decent middle-class father, /… More
Comes the Silence
The last part of a story is the silence / That comes at the end. / A time to think, to reflect. / The drums are still now. /… More
Versos de amor y locura
Déjame que te cuente las palabras. / Somos los hijos de los rojos versos / que vuelan cuando está la noche encima. / Qué pálidos amantes, pues nos vemos… More
Poems from Water Puppets
I will admit I was in favor of war and now look what’s happened. / At the end of the road the man driving the truck will eat /… More
Three Poems
With PEN’s Poetry Relay, a series of readings and conversations, we hope to trace the topography of influence that connects contemporary poets to their peers and predecessors. The relay… More
What She Knows
She gathers an empty bottle washed / ashore and tosses it far to sea. / It sinks, fills, becomes ocean, / I see through ages—it settles / by a… More
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