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MENTALLY ILL
What does it mean, exactly? Mentally ill?Is it a badge of honor? An excuse? Is it chords within chords played melodically as single notes?What does it do mentally, to call someone mentally ill?Is...
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BRAHMS
Brahms makes Beethoven sound like MozartAnd Bach sound like my right thumb.This piano concerto runs a symphonic mistDown this which allows the piano to come.Now I’m lying on the bed—where else should...
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WINTER THREW ITS SHADOW OVER THE RIVER OF MY YEARS
Winter threw its shadow over the river of my years.I only lived one third of my life: the months April, May, June and July.August was too close to September—When the year started down into darkness...
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YES, CRAZY ACCELERATES
It’s more Orwellian than that. Since youWent crazy on that idea they sold you,Everything about this idea is crazier, still.Move more plants to your window sill.Increase your dietary fiber. Don’t watch...
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I CAN CONFIRM
I can confirm that you love me.I can confirm that you should have been the one.I am the sun to your worm.I am the field sprouting.I can confirm. And what can you sayAs the field sprouts and the sun...
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STRANGELY IMMUNE TO THE CHARMS OF PEOPLE
Our love involved political conversion. This made it volatile, and eventually it was banned. I used to tell her, Republicans and Democrats see democracy differently: One thinks, I need just enough...
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LISTEN TO ME CONVINCE MYSELF I AM HAPPY
If I can read a book on Greece and be happier in my mindThan unhealthy tourists tramping around Greece,And a mere book of poems can make me happily blind,In my poverty yet happy, and since I’m happy...
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I WANT TO HAVE SEX
For some, sex requires strong feelings. The atmosphere must be right.I want to have sex, but I can’t. Mr. Trump is no longer in the news.My girlfriends are not feeling it. There is talk of...
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WE THINK OF LOVE
We think of loveAs two people in a perfect state,Kissing, no trace of hate,But, in truth, love is squabbling,Measurement and judging, a heightened tension,So that a stranger, secretly overhearingTwo...
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THE BEAUTIFUL SWAN
“Ugly!” A swan looked up. She did not feel the slur;Because she was beautiful, the slur did not occur.This was how she felt—she felt no pain,Even though the slur had come from a crane.Her friends,...
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IN THE EVENINGS
In the evenings, we can throw ourselves into a bitter sleep,Which may become pleasant in a deeper sleep,And, in the mornings, we can take hours to revive.But those long afternoons. That’s when it’s...
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THINGS THE SPY AND DOCTOR KNOW
Things the spy and doctor know.Where does Kimberly at midnight go?What do her ailments look like in the mirror?Who does Kimberly love the bestWhen she is late and slightly undressed?When will that...
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VALENTINE, WHO REJECTED ME
One who rejected meNevertheless had a question for me:“When I ghosted youI wasn’t planning on ghosting you permanently.But you panicked. You failed me.I don’t love you. I did love you. Do you hate...
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SCARRIET POETRY HOT ONE HUNDRED!
1 AMANDA GORMAN is an “American poet and activist,” according to Wikipedia.2 CATE MARVIN “THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS EVIL. Straight up evil. It’s just beyond.” –Facebook3 LOUISE GLUCK 2020 Nobel Prize...
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COLD VIRTUE
Every time I warmly want,Cold virtue comes to haunt.But virtue must have wants, too.Yes. Virtue wants what’s best for you.Virtue owns the morning, the placid afternoon.Last night I saw virtue...
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ENGLISH IS A HOMELY LANGUAGE
English is a homely language,Though English has done quite well.Do you, Jane, wish to be in a monosyllabic hell?Why does “consent of the governed” sound old?It shouldn’t. Oh sound, you phrase, as new...
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OKAY, I GUESS I’LL WRITE MY FATHER
I’m curious about people, too. X is difficult for me to be curious about. I was unhappy when I was his age; it was especially hard graduating from college and not feeling I had any skills or...
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NOW THAT THE POEM IS OVER
Now that the poem is over,You can go back to bed.For him the poem is over a long time—You read a poem by someone who’s dead.Yes, once again, the poem lives on after its author—You loved someone who...
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BACK IN THAT DREAM
Back in that dreamI’m still dreamingUnable to breakMy bonds until I wake.The mode wasI could not leaveMelting into I mustNot leave into I must leave.Here now is a firstThought of manyLeading back into...
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AN HONORABLE MAN
An honorable man made one mistakeAnd now the perception is he is a snake.He defiled something that was goodOnce. So forever, he’ll be misunderstood. What was good was not entirely goodIn the specifics...
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