Here

Kim Addonizio

After it ended badly it got so much better
which took a while of course but still
he grew so tender & I so grateful
which maybe tells you something about how it was
I’m trying to tell you I know you
have staggered wept spiraled through a long room
banging your head against it holding crushed
bird skulls in your hands your many hearts unstrung
unable to play a note their wood still beautiful
& carved so elaborately maybe a collector would want them
stupid collectors always preserving & never breaking open
the jars so everyone starves while admiring the view
you don’t own anyone everything will be taken from you
go ahead & eat this poem please it will help

About This Poem

“I continue to be drawn back to the spirit of the sonnet, especially its fourteen-line limit, which encourages the writer to get something meaningful said before the poem is over. Also, it can fit on a cocktail napkin, should the writer find herself with inspiration but no paper.”
—Kim Addonizio

Kim Addonizio is the author of My Black Angel: Blues Poems and Portraits (Stephen F. Austin University Press, 2014), with woodcuts by Charles D. Jones. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo credit: Tan Lin

Poetry by Addonizio

My Black Angel: Blues Poems and Portraits

(Stephen F. Austin University Press, 2014)

"Rune of the Finland Woman" by Marilyn Hacker

"Painters" by Muriel Rukeyser

"The Apple Trees at Olema" by Robert Hass

Poems on the Air

Every weekday at 6 p.m. (EST) during National Poetry Month, New York’s classical music station WQXR 105.9 FM will feature a special reading of a poem from the Poem-a-Day series. Tune in or visit wqxr.org.

Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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April 11, 2016