by Luisa Villani I hang the window inside outlike a shirt drying in the breezeand the arms that are missing come to meYes, it’s a song, one I don’t quite comprehendalthough I do understand the laundryWhite ash and rainwater, a methodmy aunt taught me, but I’ll never knowhow she learned it in Brooklyn. Her mindhasContinue reading “Watching The Mayan Women”
Category Archives: Literature
The Crown of Straw
by Mihai Usachi A ball of clay launched in violence from a blind slingshot,this globe of pain hurtles far into chaos,bearing my love; What good,elaborate lute songs? What good,magniloquent twilight of violet hues?The voice on the face of the watersyou don’t hear, don’t believe, don’t speak about.Behold my ancestor’s patch of earth; here they ploughedtenContinue reading “The Crown of Straw”
Grey Hairs
by Marina Tsvetaeva These are ashes of treasures:Of hurt and loss.These are ashes in face of whichGranite is dross.Dove, naked and brilliant,It has no mate.Solomon’s ashesOver vanity that’s great.Time’s menacing chalkmark,Not to be overthrownMeans God knocks at the door- Once the house has burned down!Not checked yet by refuse,Days’ and dreams’ conquerorLike a thunderbolt –Continue reading “Grey Hairs”
A Fairy Song
by William Shakespeare Over hill, over daleThrough bush, through brier,Over park, over vale.Through flood, through fire!I do wander everywhere,Swifter than the moon’s sphereAnd I serve the Fairy QueenTo dew her orbs upon the green,The cowslips tall her pensioners be,In their gold coats spots you see,These be rubies, fairy favours,In those freckles live their savours,I mustContinue reading “A Fairy Song”
Change
by Kathleen Raine ChangeSaid the sun to the moon,You cannot stay.ChangeSays the moon to the waters,All is flowing.ChangeSays the fields to the grass,Seed-times and harvest,Chaff and grain.You must change,Said the worm to the bud,Though not a rose.Petals fadeThat wings may riseBorne on the wind.You are changingSaid death to the maiden, your wan faceTo memory, toContinue reading “Change”
Light Is More Important Than The Lantern
by Nizar Qabbani Light is more important than the lantern,The poem more important than the notebook,And the kiss more important than the lips.My letters to youAre greater and more important than the both of usThey are the only documentsWhere the people will discoverYour beautyAnd my madness.
A Fairly Sad Tale
by Dorothy Parker I think that I shall never knowWhy am I thus, and I am so.Around me, other girls inspireIn men the roar and rush of fire,The sweet transparency of glass,The tenderness of April grass,The durability of granite;But me – I don’t know how to plan it.The lads I’ve met in Cupid’s deadlockWere –Continue reading “A Fairly Sad Tale”
Fox
by Alice Oswald I heard a coughas if a thief was thereoutside my sleepa sharp intake of aira fox in her fox-furstepping acrossthe grass in her black glovesbarked at my housejust so abrupt and oddthe way she wenthungrily askingin the heart’s thick accentin such serious sleeplesstrespass she camea woman with a man’s voicebut no nameasContinue reading “Fox”
Always Marry An April Girl
by Ogden Nash Praise the spells and bless the charms,I found April in my arms.April golden, April cloudy,Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy;April soft in flowered langour,April cold with sudden anger,Ever changing, ever true -I love April, I love you.
The Fish
by Marianne Moore wadethrough black jade.Of the crow-blue mussel-shells, one keepsadjusting ash heaps;opening and shutting itself likeaninjured fan.The barnacles which encrust the sideof the wave, cannot hidethere for the submerged shafts of thesunsplit like spunglass, move themselves with spotlight swiftness,into the crevices -in and out, illuminatingthe turquoise seaof bodies. The water drives a wedgeof ironContinue reading “The Fish”
Robin's Nest 