Poetry

Reading: L’Orangerie by Yves Bonnefoy
The French poet Yves Bonnefoy (1923-2016) published major collections of poetry throughout his livetime. He lived, and died, in Paris in 2016. Today, I read a poem headed 'L'Orangerie'. I didn't like the English translation by Galway Kinnell so I have improved it. As usual, here's the poem: THE ORANGERY Thus we walk on the ruins ...
Coffee
After the boil you wait. Then you pour. Then you wait again. Three minutes. And then you press down. Slowly. Each morning, I serve myself a cup of coffee. I smile for my master who is so free, almost like me We both saw a full moon last night and she turned us into a ...
Reading: Tourist by Yehuda Amichai
I like the accessible poetry of Yehuda Amichai. Today I read his poem 'Tourist' for a future anthology. Amichai (1924-2000) is generally considered the most important contemporary Israeli poet. She showed me her swaying hair in the four winds of her coming. I showed her some of my folding ways of life and the trick, and ...
Reading: Distances by Philippe Jaccottet
Today's poem is by Swiss poet Philippe Jaccottet, born in 1925 and a prominent figure in the post-war era. The French original can be found here. Without further ado, as usual (ado can be googled and regurgitated), I do my reading. Swifts turn in the height of the air; higher still turn the invisible stars. When ...
Reading: It Was A November Of Bitter Rain And Snow Blackened By Use
Today I read a poem by the Lebanese poet (and former miss Beirut) Venus Khoury-Ghata in the English translation by Marilyn Hacker. It has a few things in common with poems I wrote about here earlier: It is short, but not too short and contains some surrealistic images that can shake the prepared reader. we filed ...
Reading: White Lie by Abbas Beydoun
Today I read the poem White Lie by the Lebanese poet Abbas Beydoun, born in 1945. As usual, I write freely why I think this poem is a good one. The truth is also blood. And it might be a piece of tongue or someting severed from us. We might find it in semen or ...
Reading: Pieces of Shadow by Jaime Sabines
Today I found a poem by the Mexican poet Jaime Sabines (1926-1999) in a translation by W.S. Merwin. According to Octavio Paz he was one of the greatest. The original Spanish poem can be found here. I don't know it for certain, but I imagine that a man and a woman fall in love one ...
Reading: Forlorn (忧 郁) by Bei Dao
Emboldened by my anthologizing habit, today I discover the Chinese poet Bei Dao (a pseudonym that means "northern island"). As usual, I'll say what I like about this poem. I take the elevator from an underground parking lot up to sea level deep thoughts continuing up, through blue color like doctors you can't stop them, ...
Reading: M – Black Monday by Marcin Świetlicki
Today there is this compact poem by Marcin Świetlicki for our ideosyncratic anthology. As usual, I'll say what struck me about these lines. The moment when all the town's streetlamps light up simultaneously. The moment when you say your incredible "no," and suddenly I don't know what to do next: die? go away? not respond? ...