ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Jeff Whitney is the author of five chapbooks, two of which were co-written with Philip Schaefer. Recent poems can be found in 32 Poems, Adroit, Beloit Poetry Journal, Muzzle, Prairie Schooner, and Rattle. He lives in Portland.
Also by Jeff Whitney:
Radio Silence
The Tree With Lights In It
Note Left Like Silver on the
Eyes of the Dead
Dear Phil,
Everything is at it again. I had just come down
from my one-man nightmare. Here in my plastic house
everything happens for my reasons but out there
in the world a man might teach a boy to swim
holding him under and when he comes up feeding him
blessings. We're all a little famous, I'm told. We'll all go
somewhere. But look, I don't want to go anywhere
that isn't for everyone. That's the whole point. That's why
I wept so inconsolably once looking at a picture of balloons
over Topeka. I don't know if we catalogue our griefs or pull them
along like so many tin cans behind the wedding car. I don't know
if you can hear mine clinking, but they're here in this room
and everything I am. You too, right? We don't live in Rome
but we can imagine grabbing fish right from the water
and wringing them. We can stand still while a caterpillar turns
into a butterfly on our arm. In this way we are not miracles
but average. Average flame, average star. It isn't much
but it's what we have. A lie. Thick honey. And time, strange
map, small x where we end. Time, the matador's cape
with a little blood still on it. Can you see the tiger that lives
in everything? Average flame, average jungle, no one saying goodbye.
Glass: A Journal of Poetry is published monthly by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
