April 11: Conversation with Mary
Martha
Gabrielle Bates
My most private language
Was the angel fluent
Nuances were lost
Where did the angel come from
The ground
Did you consider yourself a woman or a child before this
Yes
And after
Yes
What was the tenor of your joy then
Choiceless
Did it hurt
Forever
Did you feel rewarded
I hallelujah I assented
How did it feel
Cold blood on the cock of God
Whose blood
My blood
--
Also: Annunciation, Marie Howe
Today in:
2024: The Coffin Maker Speaks, Lisa Suhair Majaj
2023: Running Orders, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
2022: April, Alex Dimitrov
2021: Dust, Dorianne Laux
2020: VI. Wisdom: The Voice of God, Mary Karr
2019: What I Didn’t Know Before, Ada Limón
2018: History, Jennifer Michael Hecht
2017: from Correspondences, Anne Michaels
2016: Mesilla, Carrie Fountain
2015: Dolores Park, Keetje Kuipers
2014: Finally April and the Birds Are Falling Out of the Air with Joy, Anne Carson
2013: The Flames, Kate Llewellyn
2012: To See My Mother, Sharon Olds
2011: Across a Great Wilderness without You, Keetje Kuipers
2010: Poem About Morning, William Meredith
2009: Death, The Last Visit, Marie Howe
2008: Animals, Frank O’Hara
2007: Johnny Cash in the Afterlife, Bronwen Densmore
2006: Anne Hathaway, Carol Ann Duffy
2005: Sleep Positions, Lola Haskins
+ Today's poem: Conversation with Mary, Gabrielle Bates