I’m Learning Nothing This Night by Reginald Dwayne Betts

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend February 8, 2016   I’m Learning Nothing This Night   Reginald Dwayne Betts

The magazine on my lap talks about milk. Tells me that in America, every farmer lost money on every cow, every day of every month of the year. Imagine that? To wake up and know you’re digging yourself deeper into a hole you can’t see out of, even as your hands are wet with what feeds you. That’s how this thing is, holding on & losing a little each moment. I’m whispering an invented history to myself tonight—because letting go is the art of living fully in the world your body creates when you sleep. Say a prayer for the insomniacs. They hunger & demand the impossible. Pray for the farmers, hands deep in loam— body’s weight believing what the mind knows is ruin, they too want the impossible, so accustomed to the earth responding when they call.            Copyright © 2016 Reginald Dwayne Betts. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “This poem began with an article I read about farming in America. The outcomes, the chance for success, to even gain a living from this work they’ve invested their lives in, is bleak. Still, some persist—sometimes love is like that.” —Reginald Dwayne Betts   Reginald Dwayne Betts is the author of Bastards of the Reagan Era (Four Way Books, 2015). He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.   Photo credit: Rachel Eliza Griffiths    Poetry by Betts   Bastards of the Reagan Era (Four Way Books, 2015) "Hands" by Siv Cedering "A Blessing for Wedding" by Jane Hirshfield "26" by Rachel Eliza Griffiths Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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