Good Poetry, Good People

Marcel Brouwers, The Old Cities
forthcoming from Sundress Publications

Here's a recent poem by my friend and colleague at UTenn, Marcel Brouwers. Marcel's first full-length collection of poetry, The Old Cities, is due out from Sundress Publications on October 31 and I urge you to check it out. Click here for more info on The Old Cities.


The Stone Bench

It’s not enough the neighbor cat climbs it,
or pauses. If I thought to lay out milk,
we’d be friends. But for the poured concrete

my yard is of the lush rest of growth,
wisteria and the choking grape, the late

surprise-lily erupting like night lava from space,

kudzu, a word reminding me of war words,
fubar, which it is. & the like. & is how
we know seasons. Which explains

the possum ignoring mute hummingbirds
slurping the Rose of Sharon dry, wingbeats
a blur, this world not helping but be close,

the soft silent whisper of teeth & nails.

Marcel Brouwers
from Jet Fuel Review