"In the Days of Awe"
Robin Becker

for Abbe, Sally, and Joseph

I Amidah

Hear my personal prayer, the words of my mouth and the meditation
of my heart that I may find a way back through love
In the hospital room   packed in blood-soaked cotton   the new mother lay
animal-exhausted   technicians whisked the child away   in the first
hours there was fear O ( Read more... )

"Barcelona ( Read more... )

"Enlightenment"
Natasha Trethewey

In the portrait of Jefferson that hangs
at Monticello, he is rendered two-toned:
his forehead white with illumination-

a lit bulb-the rest of his face in shadow,
darkened as if the artist meant to contrast
his bright knowledge, its dark subtext.

By 1805, when Jefferson sat for the portrait,
he was already linked to an ( Read more... )

"Yom Kippur, Taos, New Mexico"
Robin Becker

I’ve expanded like the swollen door in summer
            to fit my own dimension. Your loneliness

is a letter I read and put away, a daily reminder
            in the cry of the magpie that I am

still capable of inflicting pain
            at this distance.

Like a painting, our talk is dense with description,
    ( Read more... )

"The Return ( Read more... )