The Arid Land Lynn Riggs There will be willows plunging Their bloodless roots in air And the hard crooked flying Of buzzards circled there. About the treeless wastes No sand may ever heap With water, nothing will run And nothing creep. Arid, desolate, defiant Under its iron band Of sky, we yet may love This so sunny land.
To Mars from Arizona Alberto Ríos Saturday mornings were science fiction— That is, on that day anything was possible. We didn’t have to go to the movies for that, Though when we did, we were introduced to ourselves More than anything. Ourselves in rockets, Ourselves taking chances, ourselves speaking to the universe. Outside of the movies, we were still in them— Our bikes were our rockets, our submarines, our jets. But mostly, and first, our bikes were our horses In this childhood West, a loyal, red Western Flyer Taking me everywhere, up and down, fast and slow. Only later did I [...]
Places Willyce Kim I dreamed you. I waited 45 years for you to find me. I have nothing to give you But these places I have been. I own no home. I carry my life with me In boxes on my back. Sometimes when you look at me I want to show you Everything. How the stars turn in the night sky over Santa Fe. How snow falls like filigree through a blue moon. How a slice of sweet Hawaiian Mountain apple between your lips calls forth the forest it was plucked from. I want to take you places You have [...]
Breath for Metal Ching-In Chen This a story I’ve kept in soft orange inside my steel body. I’ve wanted to wait until I’ve cooled to hum, until my touch wouldn’t burn. I’ve practiced to gentle not to be odd. To remember me a calm line transmitting not artificial sugar smile melts a rainy spring I do not want to feel a tug you wait again for what’s dissolved into scent for this week. Copyright © 2023 by Ching-In Chen. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 5, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets.
Word of the Week: confabulate (kən-FĂB-yə-lāt) Definition (Verb) To talk familiarly together, converse, chat. In Context "In the large room, where several different groups had been formed, and the hum of voices and of laughter was loud, these two young persons might confabulate, as the Doctor phrased it to himself, without attracting attention." Henry James, Washington Square, 1880.
After Anchorage IV Joan Naviyuk Kane of gadolinium, November-veined, copper on the tongue & summoning sleep & ether though wide-awake after click & whir & click again of excision & extraction & artery notched & every hand in the dim back room summoned to press the bloodied breast to bone & told to find calm & stay calm & O type O negative & calm & fuck the radiologist who would remember the day years after, bumbling mutters & with whiskey-thick fingers on black Friday & routine gone awry & no luck for transfusion & hours later [...]
Word of the Week: bonhomie (bŏn-ə-MĒ) Definition (Noun) Good nature; the quality of being a good fellow. In Context "Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress emerged from their first budget meeting with President Obama at the White House at midday Friday and, in a rare show of bipartisan bonhomie, jointly expressed confidence that the two parties will reach an agreement before the end of the year to avert economy-rattling tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts." Jackie Calmes, "At White House, Top Lawmakers Say They Expect Budget Deal," The New York Times, November 16, 2012.
The Vaster Wilds (2023) by Lauren Groff Critical Evaluation "Groff’s novels often account for a character’s entire life, propelling the reader through a cascade of keenly articulated, outward-facing presents, rather than cogitations on the past. “The Vaster Wilds” is much narrower in time frame, taking place over just a few weeks, and more urgent in its objectives. Pursued by threats real and imagined, the girl is driven by a sovereign hunger, and Groff is lyrically, painstakingly attentive to the textures of her craving. The girl finds a nest of baby squirrels and roasts them on a spit; she swallows oysters she finds [...]
