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December 1999

The oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world.

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  • George Bradley
  • Jared Carter
  • Joshua Corey
  • Carl Dennis
  • Chris Forhan
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From this Issue
    • poem

      Appeared in Poetry Magazine Firstborn

      By Kurt S. Olsson
      In the end, he has to teach them everything,
      even death, as he finds them that night by the fire,
      giggling and buzzing more like brother and sister
      than father and mother, waiting for him to bring
      meat for the...

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    • poem

      Appeared in Poetry Magazine Ghost Frescoes

      By Maria Terrone
      A chubby fist and wing
      float free, severed
      from the landscape of human affairs.

      Below, a barefoot saint
      seems to straddle acres, beaming
      casual self-possession, the divine

      right to stake eternal claim—but
      in the space between
      both legs, a third...

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    • poem

      Appeared in Poetry Magazine The Pieces That Fall to Earth

      By Kay Ryan
      One could   
      almost wish   
      they wouldn't;   
      they are so   
      far apart,   
      so random.   
      One cannot   
      wait, cannot   
      abandon waiting.   
      The three or   
      four occasions   
      of their landing   
      never fade.   
      Should there   
      be more, there   
      will never be   
      enough to make   
      a pattern   
      that can equal   
      the commanding   
      way they matter.

      Read More

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Poetry
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