Cresting this rouge-hued slope of oil shale You can see the lakewatera secluded place green brush on the shore so thick you can’t get your foot in as if it wants to push all static past the edge of its consciousness I’m surprised there is not one tendril of mist atop it water so bluethat it pricks at the eyes of flying birds I thinkthat this is the mirror I dreamed of in childhood made by the will of the vast and continuous stars but never, ever consenting to raise the slightest wave: if you put your hands into its silent, motionless water that pure, broad winter chillcouldn’t it bite off your greedy hands at the wrist like an invisible fire? Think it over the valley has taken the cold and each day into one warm embrace endured through long yearsyet is wholly unbored, untired —
"This unrhymed sonnet has a beautifully made volta, or turn—it happens inside the original’s line twelve, which suddenly reveals the terror and power of the lake’s great peacefulness, and then leans forward, upset, begging us to “think about it.” Because of the restrictions of English grammatical order, I had to put the violent “bite” in line eleven, but a perfect translation would shatter its placidity all at once"
Noteworthy poetry releases under review this week include the debut collection of Allison Adair, and books from Joanna Klink, Eduardo C. Corral, Fernando Pessoa and Jill Bialosky.
Resources for Supporting and Uplifting the Black Community
Black Table Arts: "We offer professional development for institutions centered in education and the arts. We work with artists all over the state of Minnesota to collaborate on speaking engagements, performances, writing workshops and panel discussions."
National Bail Fund Network: "The National Bail Fund Network is made up of over sixty community bail and bond funds across the country. We regularly update this listing of community bail funds that are freeing people by paying bail/bond and are also fighting to abolish the money bail system and pretrial detention." Find here a listing of pre-trial bail funds by state.
The American Civil Liberties Union: "The ACLU Racial Justice Program aims to preserve and extend constitutionally guaranteed rights to people who have historically been denied their rights on the basis of race."
Poetry Daily stands with the Black community. We oppose racism, oppression, and police brutality. We will continue to amplify diverse voices in the poetry world. Black Lives Matter.
"As visitors approach the sculpture, the vibration of their feet on the gallery floor, their movements, even their breathing, lead to the slow crumbling and collapse of the work itself. The figure takes on a sense of the sublime and of the divine not so much from its scale, but from its impermanence. Its object-hood, its this-ness, is at every moment in the process of disintegration."
