Rain by Frances Shaw

Rain by Frances Shaw When in the night the storm rises, I will run before it To the long shore, And there await the arms Slanting toward me— The strong gray arms of the rain. And I will lean on them, And be enchanted, And whispered to By the soft insistent voice Of the rain.Continue reading “Rain by Frances Shaw”

A Map of Sicily by Marie Luise Kaschnitz

A Map of Sicily by Marie Luise Kaschnitz I’ll draw the outline for you. It’s a wing From the shoulder of the victory goddess. The side view is a chunk of rugged mountain Arrested in the brightness of the sun, The sea around it covering the plain With sand and seaweed and with schools ofContinue reading “A Map of Sicily by Marie Luise Kaschnitz”

Return to Florence by Geoffrey Grigson

Return to Florenceby Geoffrey Grigson A theatre-sky, of navy blue, at night:traffic of the night, it darts, it screams,it is straight swifts of night with lightedeyes: upwards I read on a new building’s Face, Here P.B. Shelley wroteOde to the West Wind. Your poet, no. Normine, yet saw wind as he will or wind,oh, IContinue reading “Return to Florence by Geoffrey Grigson”

Venice, Unaccompanied by Monica Youn

Venice, Unaccompaniedby Monica Youn Wakingon the train, I thoughtwe were attacked              by light:chrome-winged birdshatching from the lagoon.              That first daythe buoys were allthat made the harbor              bearable:pennies sewn into a hemline.Later I learned to live in it,              to walkthrough the alien city—a beekeeper’s habit—              with fierce lightclinging to my head and hands.Treated as gently asContinue reading “Venice, Unaccompanied by Monica Youn”