"Out of Research Into Reveries" by Mai Der Vang

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend Support Poem-a-Day October 21, 2019   Out of Research Into Reveries   Mai Der Vang

Give up      the brain          Offer down its clumsy meditations      its blurred face                       of fury      its hellbound        policies bugged into my throat         Cough out that sickled attitude      the ragged shelves                     downing my ankles      every              era of hibernation It's all in the performance      the butcher        operating on slabs of my identity      the bereaved dissecting                       memories of an octopus                         Lift out      far from of it        Careen the elbows      out of murk                         with wine       taken by                               the midsummer full                                moon Constantly stoneward                            hunting toward heartstill              Copyright © 2019 by Mai Der Vang. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 21, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About this Poem   "I wrote this piece at a time when I was mired in research work for my poems and feeling overwhelmed by the objective nature of research. How many versions of the truth are out there? Can we ever know the definitive truth of anything but ourselves in this present moment? How might we expand the possibility of what an answer can be? So much to consider in a world where the knowledge of our collective histories is often taken or hidden from us." —Mai Der Vang   Mai Der Vang is the author of Afterland (Graywolf Press, 2017), winner of the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. She teaches in the MFA Creative Writing Program at Fresno State and lives in Fresno, California. Poetry by Vang   Afterland  (Graywolf Press, 2017) "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (280)" by Emily Dickinson "Flores Woman" by Tracy K. Smith "Lonely Planet" by Nate Klug October Guest Editor: Oliver de la Paz   Thanks to Oliver de la Paz, author of five collections of poetry, including The Boy in the Labyrinth (University of Akron Press, 2019), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Paz about his curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. 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   This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on October 6, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

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