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January 9, 2019
 

Eccles. 9:7

 
Chase Berggrun 
                                        In my favorite fantasy    
                                                  I am given

                                        permission    I am prone    
                                        face toward the light 
                                                     beach queen    bathed in body

A thought that comes from a coming-from    the sweet place

                          where a sunset isn’t indescribable
 				                                      something simply looked at

                                                      The sun sets    I sit
                                                      sinless in sand 
                                                      I sip only once
 
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Copyright © 2019 Chase Berggrun. Used with permission of the author.
Chase Berggrun reads "Eccles. 9:7."

About This Poem

 

“Ecclesiastes 9:7 reads, ‘Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy; for your action was long ago approved by God.’ I think for some alcoholics, our wildest dream is to be able to live consequence-free, to be able to feed one’s own unimaginably loud desires without the inevitable pain, resentment, regret, and instability that feeding must result in. Or, to be rid of those desires. To not have to nosedive into the glass. The very idea of moderation is a foreign one to me: this poem imagines an impossible dream.”
—Chase Berggrun

 

Chase Berggrun is a trans poet and the author of R E D (Birds, LLC, 2018). She works as an assistant to the poet Gerald Stern and lives in New York City.

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Poetry by Berggrun

 

R E D
(Birds, LLC, 2018)

"I Wouldn’t Even Know What to Do with a Third Chance" by Kaveh Akbar

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"When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities" by Chen Chen

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"Survival Guide" by Joy Ladin

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January Guest Editor: TC Tolbert

 

Thanks to TC Tolbert, author of Gephyromania (Ahsahta Press, 2014), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read a Q&A with Tolbert about their curating approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year.
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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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