Poem of the Day
Study of Children
By Asha Futterman
did you know
that you all work for me?
I asked them as a joke
did you know
that you all work for me?
I asked them as a joke
To be one with earth and sky. You ate and went
Immortal, one of the cloudy sages of air;
It did not ask but kicked the door with steel-toed boot
And took possession, one of the roughs: tough,
vertiginous, destitute.
They want one of every kind and they
can’t help it, it’s an addiction,
Please chortle everywhere for me
If you love S-E-X (sans E).
If you can't fuck me while I read, fuck off.
It should be a denial, this morning,
the way winter’s fallen across those hills so clearly
But Christ returned, Thomas traced a finger through the gash
and knew faith and the world conspired against him.
Miss Bloodworth's hat becomes a figure in memory's contract
as it lifts over water the color of tourmaline.
Soon, next door, the college kids tip their glasses
to the falling stars.
The backward glance forbidden in the mind,
Uncertain, gentle, and without impatience