Louise Glück - "Otis"

Otis

A beautiful morning; nothing
died in the night.
The Lights are putting up their bean tepees.
Rebirth! Renewal! And across the yard,
very quietly, someone is playing Otis Redding.

Now the great themes
come together again: I am twenty-three, riding the subways
in pursuit of Chassler, of my lost love, clutching
my own record, because I have to hear
this exact sound no matter where I land, no matter
whose apartment—whose apartments
did I visit that summer? I have no idea
where I’m going, about to leave New York, to live
in paradise, as I have then
no concept of change, no slightest sense of what would
happen to Chassler, to obsessive need, my one thought being
the only grief that touched mine was Otis’ grief.

Look, the tepees
are standing: Steven
has balanced them the first try.
Now the seeds go in, there is Anna
sitting in the dirt with the open packet.

This is the end, isn’t it?
And you are here with me again, listening with me: the sea
no longer torments me; the self
I wished to be is the self I am.

- Louise Glück

Tuvia Rubner

My Father

That every night my father
shone like the window in the ark.

That every night I was like a shadow
clinging to the wings of his light.

Tonight my father sweeps over me
as over a candle the dark.

Sundress - Wu Xia, trans. by Eleanor Goodman

The packing area is flooded with light
the iron I'm holding
collects all the warmth of my hands

I want to press the straps flat
so they won't dig into your shoulders when you wear it
and then press up from the waist
a lovely waist
where someone can lay a fine hand
and on the tree-shaded lane
caress a quiet kind of love
last I'll smooth the dress out
to iron the pleats to equal widths
so you can sit by a lake or on a grassy lawn
and wait for a breeze
like a flower

Soon when I get off work
I'll wash my sweaty uniform
and the sundress will be packed and shipped
to a fashionable store
it will wait just for you
unknown girl
I love you


- Wu Xia (2016)
trans. Eleanor Goodman