“In the labyrinth,” writes Oliver de la Paz, “there is constantly the problem of proximity: how what is understood about where you stand depends on where you stand.” A poet […]
Poetry
Selected Poem 3: ‘senzo’ by Evie Shockley
Lines pruned to bloom
“Senzo” is also the title of a Cape Jazz album by Abdullah Ibrahim, the anti-apartheid activist who once described improvisation as a life-preserving skill. Alluding already to ancestor in […]
POETRY
Selected Poem 2: ‘Shirt’ by Charles Simic
The poet’s empathy achieves the impossible
Shirt To get into it As it lies Crumpled on the floor Without disturbing a single crease Respectful Of the way I threw it down Last night The way it […]
Poetry
Selected Poem 1: ‘Sharks’ Teeth’ by Kay Ryan
A poem's angled logic about deep swimmers
Sharks’ Teeth Everything contains some silence. Noise gets its zest from the small shark’s-tooth- shaped fragments of rest angled in it. An hour of city holds maybe a minute of […]
