Whiteacre by Monica Youn

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 22, 2015   Whiteacre   Monica Youn

the trees all planted in the same month after the same fire                 each thick around               as a man’s wrist   meticulously spaced grids cutting the sunshine                 into panels into planks               and crossbeams of light   an incandescent architecture that is the home that was promised you                 the promise of your new               purified body   your body rendered glasslike by fire now open to the light                 slicing through you               through the glass   bones of your hands as you lift the light free of its verticals               carry it blazing               through your irradiated life              Copyright © 2015 by Monica Youn. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “This poem is part of the title series in my forthcoming book Blackacre (Graywolf Press, 2016). In Anglo-American law, ‘blackacre’ is a standard placeholder term used to denote a hypothetical estate or piece of property, much as the term ‘John Doe’ would be used to indicate a hypothetical or anonymous individual. For example, in a legal hypothetical, one might say that John Doe wishes to bequeath his property blackacre to his sister Jane Roe. Similarly, one can designate other hypothetical properties whiteacre, greenacre, brownacre, etc.” —Monica Youn   Monica Youn is the author of Ignatz (Four Way Books, 2010). She teaches at Princeton University and lives in Manhattan. Most Recent Book by Youn   Ignatz (Four Way Books, 2010) "After Lighght" by Tom Thompson "Human Atlas" by Marianne Boruch "The Fire" by Katie Ford Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. 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.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038