Jenny Xie
It wasn'tthe knob of sun

Or grainy currentscrossing the eye

that invites thought that you've finally arrived

at the clearest understandingthis very instant on the Huangpu River

where the mind is serrateddragging its way



All this thinkingthousands upon thousands along the river and inland

and still meaning is heavierthan the bodies we yoke it to



Surely for this reason death mustannounce itself

again and again in such sour language

so we may live closerto the sensesthe sweat of the unsayable



Moments when we feel historypulling from behind

the eyesthe mouthhooked



But the remainderof this life

is still millions of kilometers awayfrom being born
from the book THE RUPTURE TENSE / Graywolf Press
READ ABOUT TODAY'S POEM
Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
Graphic message reading, Someone Somewhere Needs a Poem Share Today's Poem with a Friend
Illustration for Atlanta Magazine's interview with Ilya Kaminsky
"Ilya Kaminsky on Dissent, War, and Resistance"

"A friend from Kyiv writes about spending whole nights in subway stations—which are being used as bomb shelters—reciting poems to herself and those around her to keep sane. When she grows tired, she starts translating those poems into other languages, just as a way to keep going. You know how critics in the West often ask whether poetry matters? I now realize that the only valid response to this question is: Do such critics matter?"

via ATLANTA MAGAZINE
READ ALL TODAY'S HEADLINES
Cover of Gregory Orr's book, Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved
What Sparks Poetry:
Eric James Cruz on Gregory Orr's Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved

"There is a word that stands out to me now: dimensionality. It lives as hope in these poems, a much-needed balm in the face of our current social climate. Most breathtaking is the invitation Orr leaves for the reader: to keep seeking in the face of loss. These poems affirm to me that I exist in both sorrow and joy. I live in the tension of being both unmoored and tethered to the world."
READ THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
View in browser

You have received this email because you submitted your email address at www.poems.com. 
If you would like to unsubscribe please click here.

© 2022 Poetry Daily, Poetry Daily, MS 3E4, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030

Design by the Binding Agency