The dandelions in the moment and then by CJ Evans

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend February 5, 2015   The dandelions in the moment and then   CJ Evans

It is. And needles don’t fall; cones don’t fall. The soil keeps   holding the grass seed and the dune sand beneath is still torn by thirsty,   wooden hands. By bedrock is where will be my tenoned pine.   And the grass seeds don’t split, their shoots don’t spill. The clouds   remain, widely. That locked closet inside will never have its tumblers   turned. Honestly, all I had was the only lie—that I could be   the one who evades. Sparrows don’t fall, no owl falls. Left behind   are her thin hands, a box full of ribbons, a bolt, a knife.   Photographs with anybody’s faces. Hungry letters, angry letters about   a time and people and love that is not. No image holds its meaning   within itself. Not one dandelion fell. Please. Something did happen here.            Copyright © 2015 by CJ Evans. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “I have a little box of objects that are very important to me, but are otherwise worthless. When I die they will become trash. These few objects that rely on the context of me to be valuable will be changed, even if nothing else is. The words in this poem came from William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.” —CJ Evans   CJ Evans is the author of A Penance (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2012). He is the editor of Two Lines Press and lives in Aix-en-Provence, France. Most Recent Book by Evans   A Penance (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2012) "About Death and Other Things" by Aleksandar Ristovic "Belong To" by David Baker "Fairbanks Under the Solstice" by John Haines Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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