Poem-A-Day: Wonder Cabinet by Tina Chang

Wonder Cabinet by Tina Chang     I opened the silver pronged evening and translated the great song of the Industrial Age. Each night I hoped it would tell a different ending. Each time it sang a song, sadder than I would have imagined.   I heard it, not only when I put all my perspectives away on shelves, until the shelves caved in. What was left: a room with windows that looked out and I interpreted the vast room that spoke of longing,   but mostly air. I consoled myself, heavy lidded, I revealed myself to no one. I ached by the staircase. I opened the cupboards and the refrigerator to let the cold in. I walked with my bare feet dragging my lone body,   cold as milk as I kissed the bottomless depth, an ear tuned toward the series of bells, wind tied to a tree. And then the wind stopped. If I break the many windows will the sea roil and foam?   I am consumed with houses and what may propagate inside them. What longing lives there, breeds redemption? An open door to the wide plain is not a metaphor. I swing it open each day. I leave the old house.         Copyright © 2013 by Tina Chang. Used with permission of the author.   About This Poem "As I was writing 'Wonder Cabinet' I was concerned with space, confinement, and freedom. I wondered what we sought, in shelter, to contain/protect and what we sought to let go and release. The poem is an exploration of home, the memory of which is ultimately a construct of the mind."    --Tina Chang Most Recent Book by Chang Of Gods & Strangers (Four Way Books, 2011)            August 2, 2013 Tina Chang's second and most recent collection of poetry is Of Gods & Strangers (Four Way Books, 2011). Chang teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence College. She is also the poet laureate of Brooklyn. Related Poems Dusting by Marilyn Nelson My House, I Say by Robert Louis Stevenson Proclamation by Stuart Dischell Poem-A-Day Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-A-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Browse the  Poem-A-Day Archive.     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.

Forward this email This email was sent to prentice654.allsms@blogger.com by poetnews@poets.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Academy of American Poets | 75 Maiden Lane | Suite 901 | New York | NY | 10038