Civil Wars: Poems

Contents

part one Poems Isaac . . . . 3 Tisiphone . . . . 5 Intimate: . . . . 6 Tortoise . . . . 7 Dancing Bear . . . . 8 Hour Glass . . . . 9 Comb . . . . 10 Civil Wars . . . . 11 Spy . . . . 13 Tinnitus . . . . 14 Il Trovatore: The Villanelle . . . . 15 Sirens . . . . 16 Ptolemaic Astronomy . . . . 17 Epitaph for a Headmaster . . . . 20 Dinner Toast . . . . 21 The Washing of the Bodies . . . . 22 Harmonica Rascals . . . . 23 Escape . . . . 25 April 20 . . . . 26 Normandie . . . . 27 Spinoza . . . . 28 Osip and Boris . . . . 29 Conversation with My Father . . . . 30 Sestina on Six End-Words of Petrarch . . . . 31 Cat’s Eyes . . . . 33 Underwood . . . . 34 The Poem . . . . 35 CONTENTS viii Recording Angel . . . . 36 Yankees . . . . 37 Revision . . . . 38 Castaways . . . . 39 All We like Sheep . . . . 40 Department of Corrections . . . . 41 Invention . . . . 42 Waiting for Sleep . . . . 43 Choice . . . . 44 Raimon de Roussillon . . . . 45 Salida de Emergencia . . . . 46 Conservatory Clerihew . . . . 47 part two Renditions “The Vine and the Billy Goat,” by Leonidas of Tarentum . . . . 51 “Workmen,” anonymous, from the Hebrew . . . . 52 “Red Lips,” anonymous, Greek folk song . . . . 54 “Lament for Bion,” anonymous, from the Greek, c. 100 BCE . . . . 55 “Provençal Poets,” by Denis of Portugal . . . . 56 “Of the Deceitful Brevity of Life,” by Luis de Gongora . . . . 57 “Give Way to God, or The Dying Christ,” by Pierre de Fermat . . . . 58 “The Battle of Maldon,” anonymous, from the Old English . . . . 61 Civil Wars This page intentionally left blank ...