[Stylist] a poem

[ckuell at comcast.net]

Hey Annie,

 

I really enjoyed this poem-thanks for sharing.

 

I've read it a few times now, and for me personally, I don't think the last
stanza adds anything. But obviously it did to the poet. For me, ending with
"and will go on happening forever." is a better ending.

 

What do you all get from the last bit?

 

Happy new year,

 

Chris

 

www.chriskuell.com <http://www.chriskuell.com> 

 

 

 

From: Stylist <stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ann Chiappetta via
Stylist
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2022 12:27 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ann Chiappetta <anniecms64 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Stylist] a poem

 

The Need Is So Great

Jim Moore - 1943-

 

Sometimes I just sit like this at the window and watch

the darkness come. If I'm smart, I'll put on Bach.

 

I'm thinking now of how far it always seems there is to go.

Maybe it is too easy that I speak so often

 

of late last light on a December day,

of that stubborn grass that somehow still remains green

 

behind the broken chain link fence on the corner.

But the need is so great for the way light looks

 

as it takes its leave of us. We say

what we can to each other of these things,

 

we who are such thieves, stealing first

one breath and then the next. Bach, keep going

 

just this slowly, show me the way to believe

that what matters in this world has already happened

 

and will go on happening forever.

The way light falls on the last

 

of the stricken leaves of the copper beech

at the end of the block is something to behold.

 

Copyright C 2022 by Jim Moore. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on
December 30, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

 

Jim Moore

Jim Moore was born on June 22, 1943, in Decatur, Illinois. He began writing
in the mid-1960s and received his bachelor's degree at the University of
Minnesota and his master's degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His
poetry collections include Prognosis (Graywolf Press, 2021), Underground:
New and Selected Poems (Graywolf Press, 2014), Invisible Strings (Graywolf
Press, 2011), and Lightning at Dinner (Graywolf Press, 2005).

 

 

Ann M. Chiappetta, M.S.

Making Meaningful ConnectionsThrough Media 

914.393.6605 USA

Anniecms64 at gmail.com <mailto:Anniecms64 at gmail.com> 

All things Annie: www.annchiappetta.com <http://www.annchiappetta.com>  

 

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