by Mary Oliver When death comeslike the hungry bear in autumn;when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;when death comeslike the measle-pox; when death comeslike an iceberg between the shoulder blades, I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:what is…

by Emily Jungmin Yoon First, there was the horse. Imagine creatures as majestic,standing. All their lives they stand, withholding. Imagine being tamed. Learning to be still,to be speed. Imagine birds as large as horses. We would be flying, grabbinga majestic creature by its collar. In cylinders of metal, we are four-leggedbeast-lives of liminal spaces. One…

by Richard Siken A man walks into a bar and says:                                                Take my wife–please.                                                                                    So you do.            You take her out into the rain and you fall in love with her                                                and she leaves you and you’re desolate.You’re on your back in your undershirt, a broken man                        on an ugly bedspread, staring at the water stains                                                                                                on the ceiling.                  And you can…

by June Jordan Into the topaz the crystalline signalsof Manhattanthe nightplane lowers my bodyscintillate with longing to lie positivebesidethe electric waters of your fleshandI will never tell you the meaning of this poem:Just say, “She wrote it and I recognizethe reference.” Pleaselet it go at that. Althoughit is all the willingness you lendthe worldas when…

by Jack Gilbert Love is like a garden in the heart, he said.They asked him what he meant by garden.He explained about gardens. “In the cities,”he said, “there are places walled off where colorand decorum are magnified into a civilization.Like a beautiful woman,” he said. How likea woman, they asked. He remembered their wivesand said…

by Joy Sullivan First, you must realize you’re homesick for all the livesyou’re not living. Then, you must commit to the roadand the rising loneliness. To the sincere thrill of comingapart. Divorce yourself from routine and control. Instead,find a desert and fall in. Take the trail that promises a view.Get lost. Break your toes. Bruise…