RootsBatang, Western Sumatraby James Penha The roots of the two banyan trees poured themselveslike rivulets into the Batang River—one from the eastern bank, one from the west—competing for the endless torrents gods grant Sumatra.The village elders who met at the full moonbeneath each tree loved their own banyan so muchthey needed to destroy its rivalContinue reading “Roots by James Penha”
Monthly Archives: October 2020
Elegy for the Quagga by Sarah Lindsay
Elegy for the Quagga by Sarah Lindsay Krakatau split with a blinding noise and raised from gutted, steaming rock a pulverized black sky, over water walls that swiftly fell on Java and Sumatra. Fifteen days before, in its cage in Amsterdam, the last known member of Equus quagga, the southernmost subspecies of zebra, died. Most ofContinue reading “Elegy for the Quagga by Sarah Lindsay”
The Laneway by Frances Daggar Roberts
The Laneway by Frances Daggar Roberts You can measure the weight of Italian Autumn days in flowers and colours. This day is ochre-shaded with a heavy drugging perfume of ripe fruit. We walk down the narrow cobbled ways familiar now with clumps of weeds, the corners where dogs defecate, the fences where grapes hang withinContinue reading “The Laneway by Frances Daggar Roberts”
The Starlings by Jesper Svenbro
The Starlings by Jesper Svenbro Translated from the Swedish by John Matthias and Lars-Håkan Svensson Late one afternoon in October I hear them for the first time: loud-voiced palavering, whistles, murmurs, quarrels, bickering and warbling, croaking and chatter in the high plane trees of the street. The leaves are all turning yellow this time ofContinue reading “The Starlings by Jesper Svenbro”
I-70, Crossing Kansas by Sarah Russell
I-70, Crossing Kansas by Sarah Russell Asphalt casts a line to the horizon. It’s early May—wheat, a nascent green, and plowing started for the corn. Clouds loom like gargoyles in the west with slanted rain a hundred miles ahead. Billboards reading Quilt Cottage and Gove City Yarns share the berm with Jesus Saves. Stuckey‘s kitschContinue reading “I-70, Crossing Kansas by Sarah Russell”
Across Kansas by William Stafford
Across Kansasby William Stafford My family slept those level milesbut like a bell rung deep till dawnI drove down an aisle of sound,nothing real but in the bell,past the town where I was born. Once you cross a land like thatyou own your face more: what the lightstruck told a self; every rockdenied all theContinue reading “Across Kansas by William Stafford”
How to Cross a Street in Saigon by Tina Hacker
How to Cross a Street in Saigon by Tina Hacker Streets, sidewalks, hotel courtyards, storefront verandas, grassy swaths of park, any unoccupied spaces become stages for vehicles. Walk in a straight line, avoid swerving or stopping. Maintain an even tempo, a ballerina dancing to a baroque fugue, exact steps from one side to the other.Continue reading “How to Cross a Street in Saigon by Tina Hacker”
Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Poem I Can’t Yet Name
The Poem I Can’t Yet Name by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai Translated from the Vietnamese by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Bruce Weigl For my grandmother My hands lift high a bowl of rice, the seeds harvested in the field where my grandmother was laid to rest. Each rice seed tastes sweet as the sound ofContinue reading “Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, The Poem I Can’t Yet Name”
Persistent Memory by Jennifer Lagier
Persistent Memory by Jennifer Lagier Inside Monet’s house, copper pans against blue wallpaper, vivid canvas vignettes. Artists stroll along midnight boulevards, inhabit Parisian kitchens, Bohemian salons. Outside, beneath a weeping willow, his green rowboat swings in the wind. Watercolors immortalize shadows, gravel shores, creaking vacancy. Overlapping lily pads float upon shimmering pond, refract wavy impressionsContinue reading “Persistent Memory by Jennifer Lagier”
Closed by Lynn White
Closed by Lynn White It was a beautiful village, the sun was shining, the mountain air pure, a perfect place for a coffee. We could see two cafés, but the first we tried was closed, closed for a while by the looks. The second looked hopeful with tables and chairs outside but the door wasContinue reading “Closed by Lynn White”
POETRY and PLACES 