Looking up in the Garden by W. S. Merwin

Looking Up In The Garden

These trees have no names

whatever we call them

where will the meanings be

when the words are forgotten

will I see again

where are you

will you be sitting

in Fran’s living room

will the dream come back

will I know where I am

will there be birds

How to Triumph Like a Girl by Ada Limón

How to Triumph Like a Girl

I like the lady horses best, 

how they make it all look easy,

like running 40 miles per hour

is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.

I like their lady horse swagger,

after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!

But mainly, let’s be honest, I like

that they’re ladies. As if this big

dangerous animal is also a part of me,

that somewhere inside the delicate

skin of my body, there pumps

an 8-pound female horse heart,

giant with power, heavy with blood.

Don’t you want to believe it? 

Don’t you want to tug my shirt and see 

the huge beating genius machine

that thinks, no, it knows,

it’s going to come in first.

We Manage Most When We Manage Small by Linda Gregg

We Manage Most When We Manage Small

 

What things are steadfast? Not the birds.

Not the bride and groom who hurry

in their brevity to reach one another.

The stars do not blow away as we do.

The heavenly things ignite and freeze.

But not as my hair falls before you.

Fragile and momentary, we continue.

Fearing madness in all things huge

and their requiring. Managing as thin light

on water. Managing only greetings

and farewells. We love a little, as the mice

huddle, as the goat leans against my hand.

As the lovers quickening, riding time.

Making safety in the moment. This touching

home goes far. This fishing in the air.

The Night Where You No Longer Live by Meghan O'Rourke

The Night Where You No Longer Live

 

Was it like lifting a veil

And was the grass treacherous, the green grass

 

Did you think of your own mother

 

Was it like a virus

Did the software flicker

 

And was this the beginning

Was it like that

 

Was there gas station food

 

                              and was it a long trip

 

And is there sun there

               or drones

               or punishment

               or growth

Was it a blackout

 

               And did you still create me

               And what was I like on the first day of my life

 

Were we two from the start

And was our time an entrance

               or an ending

Did we stand in the heated room

Did we look at the painting

 

Did the snow appear cold

Were our feet red with it, with the wet snow

 

And then what were our names

Did you love me or did I misunderstand

 

                                             Is it terrible

 

Do you intend to come back

 

Do you hear the world’s keening

 

Will you stay the night