Poem of the Day
Study of Children
By Asha Futterman
did you know
that you all work for me?
I asked them as a joke
did you know
that you all work for me?
I asked them as a joke
Destination, in the land of never enough,
is the cornice of all I can give / all that I know,
given over to deep blue sky.
Do not let the bow scare you;
it is for drawing back—
What vision lights up wildernesses tonight?
The sentry scratches his head and guesses tonight.
Too many diplomas! Their frames cast gloomy shadows.
in Gila Bend, Arizona, all’s gone still
with his death, the entire satellite base
draped in black garlands, even the old
XXXIV
We are falling through the abyss Voices, of terror,
come to me I try to answer but sense
"The days are getting long now,"
he said.
"Short," I replied,
last words in Brooklyn
I
Admire my patience
in the grave in Sunset Park.
Arcades brick dust a rose lamp burns in the upstairs window
everything I will say I have said already still again the
arcades the dust the light to be built by the bottle the box
Because this is Florida, we can be what we choose to be,
say, Dixie-fried Cubano rednecks. It's that kind of place.
When the heavy-metal band plays "Rocky Top, Tennessee"