POEM
The Rain-Streaked Avenues of Central Queens
It ends badly, this glass of wine,
before you drink it
you have to drink a prior glass,
before you sip you gulp,
before you chug the bottle
you pour it down your throat,
before we lie together
naked, we divorce, before we rest
we grow old, it ends in chaos,
but it is delicious,
when we wake it is the past,
we are the faces staring
from the high lit window,
the unmet lovers, the rivals
who do not exist,
united in a radiance
that will not fade at dawn.
Source: Poetry (January 2008).
This poem originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of Poetry.
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D. Nurkse is the author of numerous collections of poetry, including The Rules of . . . MORE »
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