#AmericanWriters
You must come to them sideways In rooms webbed in shadow, Sneak a view of their emptiness Without them catching A glimpse of you in return.
St. John of the Cross wore dark g… As he passed me on the street. St. Theresa of Avila, beautiful a… Turned her back on me. “Soulmate,” they hissed. “It’s hi…
They arrive inside They object at evening. There’s no one to meet them. The lamps they carry Cast their shadows
Here come my night thoughts On crutches, Returning from studying the heaven… What they thought about Stayed the same,
Executioner happy to explain How his wristwatch works As he shadows me on the street. I call him that because he is grim… And wears black.
To find clues where there are none… That’s my job now, I said to the Dictionary on my desk. The world… My window has grown illegible, And so has the clock on the wall.
How much death works, No one knows what a long Day he puts in. The little Wife always alone Ironing death’s laundry.
Shoes, secret face of my inner lif… Two gaping toothless mouths, Two partly decomposed animal skins Smelling of mice-nests. My brother and sister who died at…
Millions were dead; everybody was… I stayed in my room. The Presiden… Spoke of war as of a magic love po… My eyes were opened in astonishmen… In a mirror my face appeared to me
As an ant is powerless Against a raised boot, And only has an instant To have a bright idea or two. The black boot so polished,
Where the path to the lake twists… A puff of dust, the kind bare feet… Is what I saw in the dying light, Night swooping down everywhere els… A low branch heavy with leaves
On the road with billowing poplars… In a country flat and desolate To the far-off gray horizon, where… A man and a woman went on foot, Each carrying a small suitcase.
Where it says snow read teeth-marks of a virgin Where it says knife read you passed through my bones like a police-whistle
Green Buddhas On the fruit stand. We eat the smile And spit out the teeth.
for Hayden Carruth If you didn’t see the six-legged d… It doesn’t matter. We did, and he mostly lay in the c… As for the extra legs,