Paris Winter by Howard Altmann

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend November 27, 2015   Paris Winter   Howard Altmann

That we can breathe and not forget our dreams entirely. In the cold sun the warmth of timelessness. There is panic, rest assured, so much beauty   stirring, I want to touch all that contains me. We know the questions   and the light shifts without a word. In the clouds, a philosopher’s chair   rocks. In the riverbed, the buff and lathe of stones, change glistening   past. And from the afternoon, drops of her monthly blood drip down   the stairs, the kitchen table, all of her unopened bills, a cold floor that timed   us. O, the ins and outs of memory breathe, too, images at rest in the dark   chambers, the gilded daylight whir a heart’s dusting—one walkup,   one post storm quiet blinking at infinity. Who shot the moon   and claimed victory in the morning? The constellations touch down;   the years collapse; the boom and bust of love lowers the crane   at dawn: in what earth, in what sky will the soul find its keeper?            Copyright © 2015 by Howard Altmann. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “The sun was so low in the sky on a cold January afternoon in New York City, I was blinded to the point I had to stop walking. And it was a kind of high—my vision expanding, the days collapsing.” —Howard Altmann   Howard Altmann is the author of In This House (Turtle Point Press, 2010). He lives in New York City.   Photo credit: Sunny Khalsa Poetry by Altmann   In This House (Turtle Point Press, 2010) "The Subject of Retreat" by Yona Harvey "Winter Study" by Mark Wunderlich "Untitled [Toward night]" by Kevin Goodan Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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