The American Poetry Review

FOUR POEMS

Thicket & Child

In the middle
of spring, in the center
of the thicket
a family of finches

are making a slog
of dinner, worms
that, pulled out
of the ground

become something
like an elegiac
witness to hunger,
the birds’ hunger,

the thicket’s starvation,the yellowed grass’sthirst. Or not.I suppose I’m feeling

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

More from The American Poetry Review

The American Poetry Review34 min read
END OF MESSAGE On Norman Dubie
1. “Are you by your machine?” he says. “Yeah, I’m here.” I turn the phone on speaker, set it on my desk, open a Word doc. By “machine”—I know by now—he just means computer. I don’t think I ever hear him say that word: Computer. I know he did, once, w
The American Poetry Review2 min read
Three Poems
Did you wait for mein the riverbed, undera smooth stone?Did I have to earn you,like a Chicago summer?A seed sproutingin harsh conditions?Stand in a long linefull of crossed fingers,all the whileyou lit up the marquee.Can I keep you?When they callyou,
The American Poetry Review3 min read
from SCENES FROM LATIN POETRY
Qui tacet consentire videtur. Silence gives consent.Veritas odium parit. Truth creates hatred. You know how you can know some thingsbut forget you know until it’s time to remember.Mom met her third husband Billy whenshe was a teacher helping convicts

Related Books & Audiobooks