The American Poetry Review

TWO POEMS

Woke Up at the Edge of Hasbro

Woke up at the edgeof Hasbro,at the guardrail,with thestill interred.Helmet free,I drank my spit.Extracted five-plus yearsof garbage from my ears.Had to unlearnmy learningin the navellesscomics of Prince Valiant.Spoke sternlyto my two-tailed mammoncurled against its tree.Our punishments,we devoured themby hand.Ground themto a kind of talc.Unharmed nowby the chipped platedropt, one depthswollen withdepth’s becoming,but not preparedfor solitude.Its corridorswere large and wakeful.Where a stonecould amass,or a callus on a thumb.In the bedpan,watched the namingof my parents,saw them ledbeneath the vaultingof a manger,charred and cold,to stand before the overseerfilling in his ovals.Studied the back blow,sipped fromthe birth-horn,looked up towarda ceilingof access fobsand entry wands,a whole lifetime of themsealed thereinin gelatin.And had the twonot shrieked?I might have offeredimmortality.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The American Poetry Review

The American Poetry Review1 min read
Friends Of APR
We wish to express our gratitude to everyone who donated to the 2023–2024 Friends Campaign and our thanks to the following individuals for their particularly generous contributions. Dana AsherMargot Berg and Robert EpsteinJonathan KatzWilliam Kistler
The American Poetry Review1 min read
The American Poetry Review
Editor Elizabeth Scanlon Business Manager Mike Duffy Editorial Assistants Thalia Geiger Hannah Gellman General Counsel Dennis J. Brennan, Esq. Contributing Editors Christopher Buckley, Deborah Burnham, Jan Freeman, Leonard Gontarek, Everett Hoagland,
The American Poetry Review4 min read
TEN POEMS Translations of Rafael Alberti
Throughout the centuries,through the nothingness of the world,I, without sleep, search for you. Behind me, imperceptible,without touching my shoulders,my dead angel keeps watch. Where is Paradise,Shadow, you who have been there?I ask silently. Cities

Related Books & Audiobooks