Georgia O'Keeffe, "From the Faraway, Nearby" 1937 Make no bones about it— or better yet, make bones:sandborne, sun-bleached, bald-faced bonesnaked but for a Southwest sky. I began picking up bones because there were no flowers.More… Continue Reading
Mistake You taste like the last drop of whiskeyat 3amafter a lousy daylike the first gulp of coffee on a Monday, sippedbehinda deskhot and bitterlike the burning at the back of the throatafter the first… Continue Reading
Black Stone on a White Stone I will die in Paris with a rainstorm, on a day I already remember, I will die in Paris—and I don’t shy away— perhaps on a Thursday,… Continue Reading
A Fable Two women with the same claim came to the feet of the wise king. Two women, but only one baby. The king knew someone was lying. What he said was Let the child… Continue Reading
"Autumn" The morns are meeker than they were,The nuts are getting brown;The berry’s cheek is plumper,The rose is out of town. The maple wears a gayer scarf,The field a scarlet gown.Lest I should be old-fashioned,I’ll… Continue Reading
"Autumn song" When a sighing beginsIn the violinsOf the autumn-song,My heart is drownedIn the slow soundLanguorous and long Pale as with pain,Breath fails me whenThe hours toll deep.My thoughts recoverThe days that are over,And I… Continue Reading
Sonnet 73 That time of year thou mayst in me behold,When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang; In… Continue Reading
Five Haikus 1. I am nobody: A red sinking autumn sun Took my name away. 2. I give permission For this slow spring rain to soak The violet beds. 3. With a twitching nose A… Continue Reading
Fall the black oaks fling their bronze fruit into all the pockets of the earth pock pock they knock against the thresholds the roof the sidewalk fill the eaves … Continue Reading
Reckless Sonnet No. 8 My father, as a boy in Milwaukee, thoughtthe cicada’s cry was the whir from a live wire--not from muscles on the sides of an insectvibrating against an outer membrane. Strange thoughthat,… Continue Reading