Early Novel
riding beside the soul in a great
automobile
fences spiral up whatever’s
at heart
a face that doesn’t look like
a horse
but thinks
with spurs
———————————————————-
in estimation of the moment before impact
the weight in it rides out but not on legs
the wheels farthest in back lock
and swinging over ice are
muscle under weight of bone
or limb that whips along an arc
———————————————————
if one follows one’s understanding rather
than resisting: pleasure.
though, not following pleasure:
receiving its press from out
the world as one
———————————————————
enters farther
——————————————————–
in the economy of appearance
for so many hundreds here
to enter yet
control
just now
your partnership
I love you, giving up
love you, passing in
——————————————————–
don’t we just want to climb
back in our bed
sleep, exchange
imperial, the perfect
rose, nothing
no one’s
——————————————————-
he remains, the
greatness is in him
and in leaving, the left
is great
absence of emotion in a room
letting us wait
why wait
——————————————————–
made
and made the flame at least with these
eyes in mind
memory
made night for remembrance
made the intentions that someone wear
them
made water that
it lie in the sink in an adjoining room
passage for carrying
the knot so language would have
mention
of what it later did
—————————————————–
the conversation of one
thousand dreams
occurred
a tent fell
—————————————————
the idea there
is a world
and each person
under that tent, another myself
or the wiser picture
of foreigners walking in a field
if we approach
one thinking
it is a child
we haven’t
————————————————–
walking backwards I said, Tell me
what man is
—
This selection comes from Lucy Ives’ book Orange Roses, available from Ahsahta Press. Purchase your copy here!
Lucy Ives was born in New York City in 1980, received an AB, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and is currently completing a PhD in comparative literature at New York University. She has lived outside the U.S. for extended periods in Hirosaki, Japan, and Paris and has studied French, German, Greek, Japanese, and Latin, among other languages. A deputy editor with Triple Canopy, the arts magazine and publisher, Ives continues to live in New York.
Darren C. Demaree is the author of three poetry collections, As We Refer to Our Bodies (2013, 8th House), Temporary Champions (2014, Main Street Rag), and Not For Art For Prayer (2015, 8th House). He is the recipient of three Pushcart Prize nominations and a Best of the Net nomination. He is also a founding editor of Ovenbird Poetry and AltOhio. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.
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