An Introduction to My Anthology

By Marvin Bell b. 1937 Marvin Bell

Such a book must contain—

it always does!—a disclaimer.

I make no such. For here

I have collected all the best—

the lily from the field among them,

forget-me-nots and mint weed,

a rose for whoever expected it,

and a buttercup for the children

to make their noses yellow.

Here is clover for the lucky

to roll in, and milkweed to clatter,

a daisy for one judgment,

and a violet for when he loves you

or if he loves you not and why not.

Those who sniff and say no,

These are the wrong ones (and

there always are such people!)—

let them go elsewhere, and quickly!

For you and I, who have made it this far,

are made happy by occasions

requiring orchids, or queenly arrangements

and even a bird-of-paradise,

but happier still by the flowers of

circumstance, cattails of our youth,

field grass and bulrush. I have included

the devil’s paintbrush

but only as a peacock among barn fowl.

Marvin Bell, “An Introduction to My Anthology” from Nightworks: Poems 1962-2000. Copyright © 2000 by Marvin Bell. Reprinted with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P. O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.coppercanyonpress.org

Source: Nightworks: Poems 1962-2000 (Copper Canyon Press, 2000)

Biography

American poet and critic Marvin Bell "is a poet of the family. He writes of his father, his wives, his sons, and himself in a dynamic interaction of love and loss, accomplishment, and fear of alienation. These are subjects that demand maturity and constant evaluation. A complete reading of Bell's canon shows his ability to understand the durability of the human heart. Equally impressive is his accompanying technical . . .

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