Clik here to view.
THE HUMAN RACE IS DISGUSTED
Observe, as you lounge in one place, At some busy café—you, too, will be disgusted by the human race. The picky ordering, customers unsatisfied; The nerdy college couple who kiss each other’s hands...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NATIONAL POETRY DAY, OCTOBER 1
What did you do on Poetry Day? Did you look at someone you love—and quickly look away? Did you write a poem, and feel awkward doing so? Awkward—because of what all bright days and all dark branches...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ART COVERS UP
Art covers up everything that we would like to do. This is your painting. And here—over here—stands you. To acquire that skill takes a certain amount of work. You gave up. In your soul the lazy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
U.S.A.
I remember when my country was young; Day-time World Series—on television sets in store windows—watched by everyone Who shrugged off assassinations and other black-and-white news With candlelight...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WHAT MISSES US
“Love is an accident” —old saying What misses us—is not—you and me. Desire is slavery—and you and I are free. How did this warm evening find you and I together at the entrance of the park Where on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IS RENOIR PORN?
The Large Bathers—Pierre-Auguste Renoir Renoir was in his mid-forties when he devoted four years on his famous “The Large Bathers” (1887), perhaps his most ambitious painting. Will RSAP—the “Renoir...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WHY ARE PEOPLE UGLY
Why are people ugly? Because otherwise sex would drive the human race mad. Ugly people having sex isn’t sexy. It isn’t sexy. It’s sad. That’s why the truly sexy are miserable, too. I want to be your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MY MORNING IS YOUR EVENING
for c.s. My morning is your evening: I think, I worry—as your day’s cares float away. My evening is your morning, My dreams, your day. When morning light blinds me And Boston trains noisily run, Your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BEN MAZER’S THE GLASS PIANO AND THE POETRY OF INTELLECTUAL IMMEDIACY
Who walks here? Poe? Eliot? Mazer? Just a glance at the titles of the poems in Ben Mazer’s new book, The Glass Piano, released Nov. 1 (Madhat Press) thrills this reviewer: Lupe Velez with a Baedeker:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EVERYTHING, BEN MAZER, SUBTRACTION, AND POETRY’S SECRET
In our review of Mazer’s latest book, The Glass Piano, published on the first of November, we tried not only for a review, but a Criticism, and reflecting on our words, feel a certain remorse. In the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IT IS A SAD FACT THAT BEAUTY IS SAD
It is a sad fact that beauty is sad— That she, whom I love, whom everyone loves, can never be glad. Sadness makes her beautiful; Her beauty makes her sadness more beautiful still. In her beautiful...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SHE’S MY NEW ORANGE
If I had not loved before, Today I would not know how. I had to write the poems that failed To write the good ones now. To know how much I love you, She had to make me cry; She had to kiss my lips,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EVERY HUSBAND IS KHOMEINI
If my Supreme Religious Leader were Howard Stern, I could have understanding and pity; My husband! There’s something that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down. I cannot abide forbidden love. I am...
View ArticleClik here to view.
AGAINST CAPITALISM (CHOICE IS BAD)
Whole milk is best, And then there’s choice, which screams for skim, Which demands water instead of cream; Just to have a voice, just to have a choice. Skim is not even healthy. And choice is only a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE LEAF HAS FALLEN FROM THE VINE
The leaf has fallen from the vine; Cold winds blow. You are no longer mine. But, in truth, all that exists is the fact of ourselves; The other one is just an idea, Who we are—our desires—is the only...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BLACK SUN PRESS AND THE SUPPRESSED, DIONYSIAN SIDE OF MODERNISM
Millay: Official Modernism hated her: a leftist woman who rhymed and loved. The revolt of Modernism in poetry against Victorian decorum was complex and extensive, and featured a great deal of sex. So...
View ArticleClik here to view.
HUMANS ARE SIMPLER DOGS
Since I left the human race, To its vanities and rude mistakes, To its sad search for sweet good taste, and grace— I learned what love is, and what it takes To love—how love wants to look at a face...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT I AM SO HAPPY
It is ridiculous that I am so happy. The one who loved me, now hates me And her vast change of heart Has ripped my tiny world apart. Mine is a tiny world, since it centers on me— Is this why I am...
View ArticleClik here to view.
LET THIS POEM STAND IN
Let this poem stand in, let this ill-tempered poem be My reaction to the tragedy. Why ill-tempered? Because no sorrow Lives, except that which I borrow. A poet doesn’t put on displays, And is true...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ISLAM HAS MADE THE WEST VEXED
A small part of Islam has made the West vexed With bouts of terror and hatred. When Muslim pride is rubbed raw, When Islamic pride, embarrassed by the Westerner, over-sexed, Terrified embarrassment...
View Article