from “Please Bury Me in This” by Allison Benis White

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend December 12, 2016   from "Please Bury Me in This"   Allison Benis White

Now my neighbor through the wall playing piano, I imagine, with her          eyes closed.   When she stops playing, she disappears.   I am still waiting for the right words to explain myself to you.   When there was nothing left to smoke, I drew on my lips with a pen            until they were black.   Or is this what it means to be empty: to make no sound?   I pressed my mouth to the wall until I'd made a small gray ring.   Or maybe emptiness is a form of listening.   Maybe I am just listening.            Copyright © 2016 Allison Benis White. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "This poem is from my book-length series, Please Bury Me in This, forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2017. Beyond my piano-playing neighbor, who has since moved and been replaced by two quiet brothers, I don't remember writing this poem at all (usually a good sign). Although I do remember the late C. D. Wright's words, 'Follow the lights in your own skull.'" —Allison Benis White   Allison Benis White is the author of Please Bury Me in This (Four Way Books, forthcoming in 2017).  She teaches at the University of California, Riverside, and lives in Irvine, California. Poetry by Benis White   Please Bury Me in This (Four Way Books, 2017)  "Obscurity and Elegance" by C. D. Wright "On. On. Stop. Stop." by Saskia Hamilton "Please Read" by Mary Ruefle Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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