Birthday by Richie Hofmann

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 27, 2015   Birthday   Richie Hofmann

I look for words in the dark, silently describing to myself the particular conditions of the weather on the morning I saw you most recently— the wind, its patterned disarray— my mind elsewhere, distracted, lyrical, while the pianist plays an encore. Mozart was born on this day 257 years ago. All day I have been ungenerous, resentful, impatient. In between movements, no applause but the old ladies cough loudly, violently. We cannot last forever. I loved music before I loved books. I loved Mozart before I loved you.            Copyright © 2015 by Richie Hofmann. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “I wrote this poem on January 27, 2013, after attending a recital by Marc-André Hamelin in Baltimore. I think it was mostly a Rachmaninoff program. As I listened, I remembered it was Mozart’s birthday, and I thought about scales of time—what is lasting, what love outlasts, and what outlasts love.” —Richie Hofmann   Richie Hofmann is the author of Second Empire, forthcoming from Alice James Books in November of 2015. He teaches at Emory University and splits his time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois. Most Recent Book by Hofmann   Second Empire (Alice James Books, 2015) "Whom You Love" by Joseph O. Legaspi "Credo" by Matthew Rohrer "poem I wrote sitting across the table from you" by Kevin Varrone Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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