I really liked these poems. I found this the most accessible of the poems of Simic’s I’ve read. They were thoughtful excursions on daily life - the metaphors weaving a sometimes rambunctious, sometimes peaceful melody. The closing (long) piece “The Invisible” I liked particularly well - it cau...
This new collection of poems from Charles Simic demonstrates once again his wit, moral acuity, and brilliant use of imagery. His settings are a farmhouse porch, a used-clothing store, empty station platforms; his subjects love, futility, and the sense of an individual life lived among a crowd of ...
I carried it in my pocket Like a lost button Except it wasn’t a button. Horror movies, All-night cafeterias, Dark barrooms And poolhalls, On rain-slicked streets. It led a quiet, unremarkable existence Like a shadow in a dream, An angel on a pin, And then it vanished. The years passed with th...
The Lunatic ON THE BROOKLYN BRIDGEPerhaps you’re one of the many dots at sunsetI see moving slowly or standing motionless,Watching either the gulls in the sky or the bargeWith a load of trash passing on the river below.The one, whose family doesn’t want to hear from,On his way to a night class in...
They neither procure riches for me Nor burn my house down. They've left me dangling halfway Between good and bad luck. A predicament I cannot afford to treat casually. I'm all on edge. I look over my shoulder. There goes some deadbeat Stepping on shadows of pedestrians As if they were scurrying...