Poems from difficult news by Valerie Berry
the fallen caryatids: Rodin Close to Orpheus, their backs to the Gates of Hell, they balance their burdens in a slow, bronze falling. Supple as trees these women fold into themselves, assuming the unborn shape left long ago for the difficult work of their straightening. Now weight breaks the symmetry of shoulders in graceful collapse….Read More
Poems from Alkali Sink by Stella Beratlis
Mustard Greens, Interstate 580 With enough olive oil and lemon juice, it was easy for her to overlook the occasional woody stem, their bitter tang: roadside mustard, dandelion greens, right there at the freeway’s side— first a bag, then the entire trunk stuffed full. She came to carry a knife in the glove box to…Read More
Poems from Mapmaker of Absences by Maria M. Benet
Trees at Dawn for Simone Weil In the vaulted spaces that bracketed the trees, I saw her body’s hollow, shaft to thread of light that bolts her to the firmament— Trees, she once wrote, are rooted in the sky, seeing how they live by light— Behold the brilliance, its chiseled periphery, a halo that obliterates…Read More
Poems from Practice by Dan Bellm
Practice Every seventh year you shall practice remission of debts. Deuteronomy 15:1 How simple it ought to be, to practice compassion on someone gone, even love him, long as he’s not right there in front of me, for I turned to address him, as I do, and saw that no one’s lived in that spot…Read More
Poems from Beyond the Time of Words by Marjorie Agosín
Más allá del tiempo de las palabras Más allá del tiempo y las palabras La bruma disipando las formas, Crepitando entre los umbrales, Siempre la niebla hechicera, Invitada inoportuna y a destiempo. El pasar de un tiempo sin tiempo, Un silencio sin ecos. El terror a los espejos y a nosotros, Viajamos entre las sombras…Read More