From W.S. Merwin:
With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning
From D.H. Lawrence:
Because of the silent snow, we are all hushed
Into awe.
No sound of guns, nor overhead no rushed
Vibration to draw
Our attention out of the void wherein we are crushed.A crow floats past on level wings
Noiselessly.
Uninterrupted silence swings
Invisibly, inaudibly
To and fro in our misgivings.
From Nickole Brown:
Come here, big man. It is time you
wake. It is time you find a different answer,
time to solve your own riddle
once again:Out of the eater, something to eat;
out of the strong, something sweet.Because the answer is no longer
fear curdled into rage,
a murdered lion with a swarm
sugaring his remains.Answer me.
From Gabrielle Civil:
a stolen wish, this city
of bridges valving the heart,
ancient and scarred, tongues
of stone, this haughty sister,
matronly and jeweled, who
straightened her skirts,
looked me down in the eye.
Girl, are you sure
you’re ready to rise?
From Johannes Göransson:
nobody wants to tell me
with summer-breaths
where it hurts or who was injured
when I broke into a toxic garble
with a hissing snake for a heart
when I was sweaty and tired
I learned to kiss in the underworld
with my mother tongue
and my hymn to inflation
already sung
in a dazzling killer language
I learned to speak
in the most toxic state– Summer
From Natasha Rao:
Tonight I am remembering
the Krishna-skin
skies of summer
& the way your laugh
made a jacaranda tree bloom.
We slept in sheets the color of sea glass &
I woke with the taste of salt
in my mouth.
From MK Chavez:
The secret nests in my marrow.
At the striptease I appear pirouette
and prey.Later,
I might show you
what it means to be consumed.– Little Red Riding Hood/Companion