Poems

The Man Who Came Back

by Hoàng Hùng: He came back from that far country / to find his wife in tears all night and his children bewildered all day

by Yousif al-Saigh: Tonight / the nightmare was very condensed:

by Radu Andriescu: On a collective farm in Panciu I climbed with a turkey hen / to the roof of the canteen

by Pablo Neruda: What have you done / you intellectualists? Rilkistas? / you fucked up mystifiers, fake witches?

by Nicanor Parra: I dreamed I was in a desert I was sick of myself

by Anna Swir: “This order must be delivered within an hour,” / said the major.

by Camelia Leonte: He bears his vertebrae on his back. / I wonder what spiritual rage drives him,

by Eric McHenry: It’s such a grownup thing to do, / Like renting tap shoes to perform / for no one in an electrical storm. / What’s wrong with you?

By Dana Roeser: The key to this life is / surprise. Don’t say / my whole life is spent / trying to reunite / socks.

by Gary Young: In New Jersey, a couple pulled a man from his car, shot him, and locked him in a box to die.

by Elaine Equi: Please say something really good, / no, great about yourself. I would / but I am watching a porno movie / and have no time to write.

by Mary Crow: I. Automatic pilot: / I come to and wonder how I got / to Elizabeth Street, half way home.