Tina Chang
~

Beyond is a voice and it says:
There is a car and the door is about to open.

There is a voice and it answers:
And destruction is pointed at the boy of history.

The future is the shadow of a boy, arms raised
whose eyes widen toward bloom as they stand:

two bodies of struggle. The officer believes
the instrument's sermon, believes the gun

is fueled when he shines it. Color the cloth violence.
He buffs the bright cylinder from which the bullet

will emerge and points it toward a future intention.
Color the cloth vengeance for it has no true name.

Are justice and victory the same laurels?
The world spins mindful of its past.

I envision, now, my son rising, arms above him,
like hosanna out of a car.

 

See
READ ABOUT TODAY'S POEM
Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
Head shot of Paul Otremba
In Memoriam: Paul Otremba, Poet and Friend to Our Editors
 
“I cannot quantify the impact Paul Otremba had on my life as a poet, and more importantly, as a person,” wrote Kelsie Utz ’19 in one of many tributes that poured in across social media. “He gave so much to the world, especially to young people. I am greater for having met him.” 

via RICE UNIVERSITY
READ ALL TODAY'S HEADLINES
Susan Tichy's handwritten lines from "Logging"
What Sparks Poetry:
Susan Tichy on Gary Snyder's
"Logging"

"I was eighteen when I picked up the original edition of Snyder’s Myths & Texts...I had been writing poems for several years, and even had published a few, but something new happened in those pages: I heard/saw for the first time how a web of sound could juxtapose unadorned image + simple statement into something…not exactly larger than its parts, but other than its parts. No longer were expansive and intensive poetics opposed: they were allies, creating the voice of a mind and a body finding place on earth."
READ THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
Poetry Daily logo
Poetry Daily Depends on You

We make reading the best contemporary poetry a treasured daily experience. Consider a contribution today.
You have received this email because you submitted your email address at www.poems.com. 
If you would like to unsubscribe please click here.

© 2019 Poetry Daily, Poetry Daily, MS 3E4, 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030

Design by the Binding Agency