Sophie Collins, “Untitled;” Paul Celan, “Flower”
“What is the work of desire,” I ask myself, and then I have to tell myself “not that work, didn’t mean it like that.” What I did m...
Category: poetry
Emily Dickinson, “I have no Life but this” (1398); Robert Bly, “The Moon”
“A job is not a career,” I remind myself. Do this job well, but do more. How much more? As much as possible, as well as possible. No wonder anxiety ...
Marie Ponsot, “Bliss and Grief”
No one, I mutter, No one is. I tried to prove myself a few minutes ago, as if I hadn’t accomplished anything today or recently or ever. I rambled and forc...
Sappho, “That afternoon / Girls ripe to marry…”
A failed date here, a denied opportunity there—rejection has compounded lately, becoming more than incidental. The art of losing isn’t hard to master. Mis...
Emily Dickinson, “When I have seen the Sun emerge” (888)
Only a few times have I been able to appreciate the enormity of the rising sun, I confess. Usually I’m out the door to work in the dark of early morning. ...