{"id":3451,"date":"2012-05-08T02:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T02:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sporkpress.com\/poetry\/?p=348"},"modified":"2012-05-08T02:00:32","modified_gmt":"2012-05-08T02:00:32","slug":"many-poems-by-marc-paltrineri-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/2012\/05\/08\/many-poems-by-marc-paltrineri-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Poems by Marc Paltrineri"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOXGLOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

if you\u2019d like your arms to
\nvanish hold them still
\nvery still against your body
\nthey will vanish just like glass
\nyour thoughts they will thank you
\nfor letting more light in
\nand your guests will bow remarking
\namongst themselves
\nhow much it feels like
\na weight\u2019s been lifted and it has
\nthey are right but be careful
\nthis trick applies also
\nto the heart if you stay still
\nlong enough your heart
\nwill become windows
\ntwo windows on the same floor
\nof separate apartments in separate cities
\nin which two strangers
\nturn off the lights to watch the storm
\nthrowing a sheet over
\ntheir separate cities their separate
\nhearts with
\npretty much the same view
\n_______________________________________<\/p>\n

FOXGLOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am not a nature poet
\nfoxglove no really I am not
\ntrees and clouds they
\nsurround me you should
\nsee it where I live
\nthere are mice in the walls
\nhere my trust in windows
\nis growing thin
\nfoxglove I am not
\na nature poet I can\u2019t help it
\nleaves are falling on my head
\nif I lived in the city perhaps
\nI\u2019d write about city things
\nmetrocards and chinese
\nnewspaper mixed up in my
\nbed and the streets would seem
\nslick with the reminder
\nwe are vulnerable to the
\nwhims of concrete how soon
\nit might flood or rise
\nagainst us dear god like sequoias
\nlook at those buildings come
\n_______________________________________<\/p>\n

FOXGLOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

I lied I am
\nnot immortal
\nthere is no
\nsuch thing as
\nzombies at least
\nnot like that
\nI am glad
\nsummer is over
\nthe leaves are stirring
\nin their
\npaper coffins
\nwe can step
\nI am sorry
\nI will die
\nin all honesty I\u2019d
\nrather be flying
\nin a boat across the
\nocean without a wave
\nof hubris or
\nblade of grass
\nto stop us
\nto put us in our place
\n_______________________________________<\/p>\n

FOXGLOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

is the owl who
\nflew beside us from
\nthe city to leafless no
\nwhere there are things
\nalong this world
\nwho look like forests
\nsomeone sharpened
\ninto pencils
\nwhat kind of blue
\nwould you call that blue
\ninside our bodies
\nthe sky
\nflying through us
\nowls and interstates
\nwe too have veins
\nand scenic vistas
\n_______________________________________<\/p>\n

FOXGLOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

you give the wind goosebumps
\nwhen you say those things gray
\nhood slipped over tuesday
\nthe trees are different let\u2019s
\nhave a party and the fortress
\ndon\u2019t invite the fortress
\nit will rain and the gray will soak
\nour pants the way the blank soaks
\nthrough the window on this first
\ncold night of the century
\nthis new one we\u2019re inventing
\nand what a pity we can\u2019t keep
\nthe colors what a pity
\nsuch a stupid thing to say
\nFOXGLOVE<\/strong>
\nit\u2019s funny you say
\nwe have teeth and
\nback to sleep again
\nI steal this for a poem
\nbecause it\u2019s true
\ntoday is the first day
\nof flannel-chested
\noctober and they are filling
\nthe streets selling
\napples and having babies
\ngrinding apples into juice
\nand we can marvel at
\nthe gummy babies we can
\neat three donuts each
\nI think I\u2019ll kiss you
\non the mouth now
\nwake you up to say aren\u2019t you
\nglad we have teeth
\nlet\u2019s eat some apples
\neven if our gums bleed
\n_______________________________________<\/p>\n

FOXGLOVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

at all costs
\npronouns must be
\navoided
\nthey leave
\npaper-trails to the
\nblood-source poachers
\nwant your skin will
\nkill you lined up at the
\nmall to get it
\nlet’s not speak
\nof you just go
\nlike the spirit bear goes
\nsuccinctly into the
\nforest be
\nlike the black bear go
\nput on your white
\nbear\u2019s suit
\n_______________________________________
\nMarc Paltrineri<\/strong>‘s work has been published or is forthcoming in places such as Washington Square, The Laurel Review, H_NGM_N, Sixth Finch, Jellyfish, Redivider, amongst others. He is an editor and founder of the hand-bound poetry journal Sun’s Skeleton and a poetry editor for the online journal Barnstorm. He teaches composition and poetry at the University of New Hampshire where he is pursuing an MFA. He lives nearby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOXGLOVE if you\u2019d like your arms to vanish hold them still very still against your body they will vanish just like glass your thoughts they will thank you for letting more light in and your guests will bow remarking amongst themselves how much it feels like a weight\u2019s been lifted and it has they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-things"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisissporkpress.com\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}