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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: WRIGHT, JAY Matches Found: 158 Wright, Jay Poet's Biography 158 poems available by this author 1 First Line: I have been considering Last Line: And hope somehow to see %the naked stone 10 First Line: Here, %as we stand in the mayan evening Last Line: And the confident moment %when the same moon arrives on time 11 First Line: Down in the lower field Last Line: Will be as reticent %and serene %as the least of these bones 12 First Line: Oh, dark things always Last Line: And a curry on st. Nicholas street %in aberdeen 13 First Line: When the cold knuckles in, we come to this spot Last Line: Into the young man's awakened, dark and apollonian %embrace 15 First Line: In oaxaca Last Line: Rests, awaiting the bone flute sound %of my washed desire 16 First Line: It is simple to ache in the bone, or the rind Last Line: From a dead thing to a green bird, %opening it sail into a greener forest 17 First Line: I awaken to the silver spur bells and ecstasy of a city Last Line: I will go down, ash laden, and walk %the transforming light of banaras 18 First Line: When the light struck me Last Line: And live with the three-petaled rose of my new name, here, in this new world 19 First Line: In my binu shrine, the sogo altars pull me home Last Line: And hear its cithara voice in the dye¯li's craft. Subject(s): Jazz; Music & Musicians 2 First Line: Chaparrita, %morenita Last Line: And slowly subside from their feasting, %and wait greedily for ours 20 First Line: The night has a tree/ with amber fruit;/ Last Line: I staunch you now in faith's blackness, %a compassion that being strange revives %and secures 21 First Line: Letter by letter Last Line: Where love's formal body has set its passion 23: NUESTRA SENORA DE LOURDES (FEBRUARY 11TH) First Line: Morning memories take root in me Last Line: And in the stillness the rain draws from us, %I seem to hear dona ana begin her prayers 24: SAN JUAN DE DIOS (MARCH 8TH) First Line: Today, %in san juan Last Line: When the cross lowers another bull %to the gray, exhausted mexican earth 26: CORPUS CHRISTI (MAY 25TH) First Line: So the white sunday Last Line: There, when the real presence defies me, %the blue lamp of a forest spirit leads me home 27: SAN PEDRO/ SAN PABLO (JUNE 29TH) First Line: Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me.' Last Line: And ask me again to 'speak to the people %all the words of this life.' 28: SANTA CRISTINA (JULY 24TH) First Line: Even then the cypresses were dying Last Line: Twin passages into a sacrifice you must return %to renounce 29: SANTA CLARA (AUGUST 12TH) First Line: Clara agnese ortolana beatrice Last Line: Enraptured by its austerity, enthroned %by its own seclusion 3 First Line: Here we are, disguised in jolly travelers tweed Last Line: A sliver of cheese and the coolest cucumbers 30: NUESTRA SENORA DE LOS REMEDIOS (SEPTEMBER 24TH) First Line: When they came to my house that night Last Line: Green water under a green tree responds %when I call into her house 31: SAN RAFAEL ARCANGELO (OCTOBER 24TH) First Line: Enoch, I walk about the earth the angels have defiled Last Line: Find love the perfect vessel to trouble the waters 32: SAN DIEGO (NOVEMBER 13TH) First Line: At home, at this hour, the fog would just be braiding Last Line: His silence a hant's song near the altar %from which a god has fled 33: SANTA BARBARA (DECEMBER 4TH) First Line: Who now takes an oath on the peacock, hera's bird? Last Line: Set free by sailing away, and into, %gold, silver, ivory, and peacocks 34: THE WHITE DEER First Line: The sun says she is there Last Line: Sits, camauflaged, in a tree, and aims %his silent magnum at the white deer 35: INDIAN POND First Line: All through a bitter april Last Line: Where tethered april broke %and disappeared 36 First Line: The poplars have grown their winter cotton Last Line: And move you through the deep waters of wonder %into a forgiving sleep 37 First Line: Ayer me hablo el corazon Last Line: What this spent heart has left alone 38 First Line: Un siglo de auscencia might Last Line: Or speak, when they serve a deliv- %erance the tempered heart has heard 4 First Line: Juno, they say, was paler by the yard Last Line: Could ever betokening brooklyn have known %what beatitudes I would find %in such a disquieting body? 6 First Line: You will never arrive before these Last Line: When you might come into the first sun %and find yourself alone 8 First Line: Plainly cows normally shit Last Line: The silent evening opens to the night voices, %rising to the terrace of our new home 9 First Line: Nomadic hearts know there is no rose Last Line: Will understand %and a nomadic heart will carry away ABSTRACT OF KNOWLEDGE; THE FIRST TEST First Line: I shall be the last to come into the word ALBUQUERQUE GRAVEYARD First Line: It would be easier Last Line: And turn for home Subject(s): Albuquerque, New Mexico; Cemeteries ALTARS AND SACRIFICES First Line: Even this movement Last Line: And the rhythm of the smith AN INVITATION TO MADISON COUNTY Poem Text First Line: I ride through queens Last Line: "when people who have only themselves to give Subject(s): Southern States; South (u.s.) ANAGNORISIS First Line: Through blood Last Line: I take my son's pursuit %of the days he must live %to recall ANATOMY OF RESONANCE First Line: There must be an atmosphere AREITO Poem Text First Line: This is my mitote, Subject(s): Language; Relationships; Nature; Words; Vocabulary BAPTISM IN THE LEAD AVENUE DITCH First Line: Ageless again BEGINNING AGAIN First Line: I've come back so slowly BENJAMIN BANNEKER HELPS TO BUILD A CITY Poem Text First Line: In a morning coat, Subject(s): Banneker, Benjamin (1731-1806) BENJAMIN BANNEKER HELPS TO BUILD A CITY First Line: In a morning coat, %hands locked behind your back Last Line: Beyond your power, %beyond mine BENJAMIN BANNEKER SENDS HIS 'ALMANAC' TO THOMAS JEFFERSON Poem Text First Line: Old now, / your eyes nearly blank Subject(s): Banneker, Benjamin (1731-1806); Stars; Mathematics BENJAMIN BANNEKER SENDS HIS ALMANAC TO THOMAS JEFFERSON First Line: Old now %your eyes nearly blank Last Line: Searcher, searching yourself, %losing the relations BENJAMIN BANNEKER SENDS HIS ALMANAC TO THOMAS JEFFERSON First Line: Old now BIRTHDAY First Line: My mind BODY First Line: All day we charge Last Line: To return, in the heat of your eye, %to a presence we may not remember, %but know BOLERO 9 Poem Text First Line: Nomadic hearts know there is no rose Subject(s): Travel; Memory; Journeys; Trips BOLERO: 14 First Line: Night enters the plaza, step by step, in the singular Last Line: Advances to the spot where the virgin %once sat to receive us BOLERO: 25. SAN ANSELMO (APRIL 21ST) First Line: Who will say he saw me Last Line: Might have seen and dressed my spirit's naked body BOLERO: 39 First Line: Dime en donde encontrarte Last Line: And enable me to recall %light that shrouds us in its slow fall BOLERO: 5 First Line: All names are invocations, or curses Last Line: The heartache of patience that love and naming %that this our divided world requires BOLERO: 7 First Line: Tough old glasgow tucks itself Last Line: Curled in its water bed, %confident, &cocky, %still uncomforted BOLEROS 14 Poem Text First Line: Night enters the plaza, step by step, in the singular Subject(s): Marriage; Religion; Weddings; Husbands; Wives; Theology CANTA, RANA Last Line: Exuberance that keeps you %singing CHANGE First Line: This is the morning Last Line: Rises still to fill %our vacant eyes CHAPULTEPEC CASTLE First Line: This is the castle where they lived CONTINUING CITY : SPIRIT AND BODY First Line: I resist the image of a god Last Line: I await my completion in a strange house %my soul's rags falling in pride from its door CORRIDA First Line: Trumpets at four o'clock Last Line: Into a dark corner, under the plaza, %to be cut and sent, living, %into the poorest pots CRADLE LOGIC OF AUTUMN First Line: Each instant comes with a price, the blue-edged bill Last Line: The heart alone given power to recite %its faith, what a cradled life finds emblematic Subject(s): Autumn; Seasons CRISPUS ATTUCKS Poem Text First Line: When we speak Last Line: Another season drums your intense, communal daring Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre; Negroes; American Blacks CRISPUS ATTUCKS First Line: When we speak Subject(s): African Americans; Attucks, Crispus (1723-1770); Boston Massacre CROSSES MEET First Line: Patiently, I set your seat Last Line: And I am the carpenter %of your new spirit %that speaks to hear itself %in stone DEAD First Line: The dance grows Last Line: That your world still moves DEATH AS HISTORY First Line: They are all dying Last Line: If they are all dying, %the living ones, %they charge us with the improbable DEATH OF AN UNFAMILIAR SISTER First Line: Your body DESIRE'S PERSISTENCE Poem Text First Line: In the region of rain and cloud, Subject(s): Love; Desire DESIRE'S PERSISTENCE First Line: In the region of rain and cloud Last Line: But your heart has become perfect DESTINATION: ACCOMPLISHED First Line: Six miles between ECONOMY OF POWER First Line: The song is forever false Last Line: The thrifty soul that follows %and cries its tribute EYE OF GOD, THE SOUL'S FIRST VISION First Line: Brightness is a curse upon the day FAMILY REUNION First Line: Each time we meet FIRST PRINCIPLES First Line: I see my father HOMECOMING Poem Text First Line: The trees are crystal chandeliers, Subject(s): Homecoming HOMECOMING First Line: The trees are crystal chandeliers HOMECOMING SINGER First Line: The plane tilts in to nashville Last Line: I close my eyes and listen, %as she goes out to sing this city home IDIOTIC AND POLITIC First Line: Your letter reached me INDIAN POND Poem Text First Line: All through a bitter april, Subject(s): Ponds INSCRUTABILITY First Line: Inscrutable when I speak Last Line: Of my tongue's impossible passage %through the ill-defined logic %of my body's exaltation INSIDE CHAPULTEPEC CASTLE First Line: Wherever you turn INVENTION OF A GARDEN First Line: I'm looking out of the window INVITATION TO MADISON COUNTY First Line: I ride through queens Last Line: When people, who have only themselves to give, %offer you their meal Subject(s): Southern States JASON VISITS HIS GYPSY First Line: This babbling gypsy JOURNEY TO THE PLACE OF GHOSTS First Line: Death knocks all night at my door Last Line: And our ordinary garments decent in the dead one's eyes JOURNEY TO THE PLACE OF THE GHOSTS Poem Text First Line: Death knocks all night at my door. Subject(s): Death; Soul; Mythology; Dead, The LEAVING THE BUENOS AIRES CEMETERY First Line: The evening folds the sun in its blue skirt Last Line: This fire blue evening has become my cross %and the capped candle of my every loss LOGBOOK OF JUDGMENTS, SELS. LOVE AS HEAVEN'S NOSTALGIA First Line: Rhine moonstone, light Last Line: And, you, delivered from this world, %summon my purified soul to sit %in its nature with the stars LOVE AS THE LIMIT AND COAL First Line: What in me is best LOVE AS THE LIMIT AND GOAL First Line: What in me is best Last Line: The breaking of the ground from which I rise, %invested with the ligh my grave reveals LOVE IN THE IRON ... First Line: Double the earth in northern light LOVE IN THE IRON AND LOOM First Line: Double the earth in northen light Last Line: I am finished %I weep for the twist of my craft %in the green river of my god's love LOVE IN THE WATER ... First Line: Faithful bean lady of the plantain LOVE IN THE WATER, LOVE IN THE STONE Poem Text First Line: Faithful bean lady of the plantain, Subject(s): Love; Water; Stones; Granite; Rocks LOVE IN THE WATER, LOVE IN THE STONE First Line: Faithful bean lady of the plantain Last Line: I crawl to the altar of your thunderstones %and bleed for the bride whose blood %will fill my name LOVE IN THE WEATHER BELLS First Line: Snow hurries LOVE IN THE WEATHER'S BELLS Poem Text First Line: Snow hurries / the strawberries Subject(s): Love LOVE IN THE WEATHER'S BELLS First Line: Snow hurries Last Line: It will be the weather's bells %to call me to the abandoned chapel %of your simple body LOVE PLUMBS TO THE CENTER ... First Line: I will live with winter LOVE PLUMBS TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH First Line: I will live with winter Last Line: Voices of that deep water stretch %into heaven on a thin line filled %with all we do not possess LOVE'S COLDNESS TURNS ... First Line: My blanket smells of burnt apples LOVE'S COLDNESS TURNS TO THE WARMTH OF PATIENCE First Line: My blanket smells of burnt apples Last Line: I comfort you in the bed of charity, %my soul redeemed in your body's expected fire LOVE'S FIGURED APPREHENSION First Line: Figure, trace, and the sign, womb of the world, leave me in peace, %inspire Last Line: Dama lies in the strict structure of stars, nourished by mortal seed? LOVE'S LIMIT AND RULE First Line: My body questions its natural state Last Line: Composed by the ecstasy of contemplation LUNDU Poem Text First Line: Moonlight, if I sleep on this bank Subject(s): Farm Life; Rivers; Sugar; Agriculture; Farmers MACINTYRE, THE CAPTAIN AND THE SAINTS First Line: A northern light at midnight Last Line: I crown and sceptre you with your blood %burden, and hear the echo of my own MADRID Poem Text First Line: So the villa, having learned its many skills Subject(s): Madrid, Spain MADRID First Line: So the villa, having learned its many skills Last Line: Or having it, fulfill Subject(s): Madrid, Spain MEASURE First Line: I continue in my gbariye Last Line: I desire your double journey %I ask your name %I continue MEETING HER IN CHAPULTEPEC First Line: I would take you META-A AND THE A OF ABSOLUTES Poem Text First Line: I write my god in blue. Subject(s): Religion; Theology MORNING: LEAVING CALLE GIGANTES First Line: The tart sun MUSEUMS IN CHAPULTEPEC First Line: As round and soft as women NAMING THE ASTURIAN BIRD First Line: I would be carried away Last Line: --the significant %other, wearing a bird's hood NEW ADAM'S CROSS First Line: Dove, I offer you my hand Last Line: I am not all of you, you draw away from me %I break my unillumined bones NIGHT RIDE First Line: A lame horse moves NON-BIRTHDAY POEM FOR MY FATHER First Line: Fathers never fit in poems NOW Last Line: Of my constantly changing %breath NUESTRA SENORA DE LA PAZ (JANUARY 24TH) First Line: At the upper end of this continent Last Line: And trying to sound the enharmonic note %that will distinguish peace from death ON THE BLOCK: ANOTHER NIGHT SEARCH First Line: Block time, baby, let's walk' Last Line: Now, I think I can travel ORIGINS First Line: We've been here alone for days POLYNOMIALS AND POLLEN, SELS First Line: Praise %the making of waters Last Line: And dares you to conceive %its end POPPER'S DILEMMA First Line: Amada vieja, your old sleight Last Line: A red flower standing in rain %knows only the curve of time's weight POWER OF REEDS First Line: Learning to sprak, after the heart's lost exuberance PREPARING TO LEAVE HOME First Line: Trying to come out of it REGENERATION First Line: The wind, taut as piano wire RHYTHM, CHARTS AND CHANGES, SELS. RITUAL TUNING First Line: Now I will enter the house of affliction Last Line: I surround you with my sign, %and look upon your marriage bed, %and look upon your death SALTOS First Line: What do I know of marriages and prophecy SAN DIEGO'S DISPOSSESSION First Line: Clouds fall in san diego's yard Last Line: The cold light of this tonsure %will possess us, when we return %and fall unseen SEGUIDILLA WITH A DOUBLE HEART First Line: May wants a mandarin heart Last Line: All my tall hopes rest %with the jackal in the bush, %small,and called by wrath SENSE OF COMEDY: 1 First Line: Imagine yourself, %in the suit of lights Last Line: And the comedy begins, again SKETCH FOR AN AESTHETIC PROJECT First Line: I stomp about these rooms in an old overcoat SOMEWHERE BETWEEN HERE AND BELEN Poem Text Subject(s): Rivers SUNSET'S WIDOW First Line: Ridge hair runny nose Last Line: Snuff snot and the line %dying %at the crown %of the head TENSIONS AND RESOLUTIONS First Line: At dawn, the pips Last Line: And first sun, for a sound an act %to acknowledge THE ALBUQUERQUE GRAVEYARD Poem Text First Line: It would be easier Last Line: "abruptly drop my wilted flowers, Subject(s): Albuquerque, New Mexico; Cemeteries; Graveyards THE CRADLE LOGIC OF AUTUMN Poem Text First Line: Each instant comes with a price, the blue-edged bill Last Line: Its faith, what a cradled life finds emblematic Subject(s): Autumn; Seasons; Fall THE END OF AN ETHNIC DREAM Poem Text First Line: Cigarettes in my mouth Last Line: My brain blistered. Subject(s): Aging; Dreams; Conduct Of Life; Nightmares THE HEALING IMPROVISATION OF HAIR Poem Text Subject(s): Hair THE HOMECOMING SINGER Poem Text First Line: The plane tilts in to nashville Subject(s): Singing & Singers; Homecoming; Colleges & Universities; Songs THE LAKE IN CENTRAL PARK Poem Text First Line: It should have a woman's name Subject(s): Central Park, New York City; Lakes; Pools; Ponds THE MEASURE Poem Text First Line: I continue in my gbariye. Subject(s): Life Choices; Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives THIS MORNING First Line: This morning I threw the windows Last Line: I shall ever close my windows again TRANSCENDENT NIGHT First Line: Your feather hands Last Line: Death of the dark. Death of the light %I live in my spirit' s web of love's %transcendent night TWENTY-TWO TREMBLINGS OF THE POSTULANT First Line: Candles, ribbons and a cross Last Line: We walk among these signs of your %dispossession %and hear you say you passed this way, %like this, UNWEDDING OF THE MAGDALENE ... First Line: Down, on your bare feet UNWEDDING OF THE MAGDALENE OF THE VINE First Line: Down, on your bare feet Last Line: Against the jealous redness of my stripped love %unwed, I accept your turning of this our earth W. E. B. DUBOIS AT HARVARD Poem Text First Line: In harvard square Last Line: Your intense, communal daring Subject(s): Du Bois, William Edward B. (1868-1963); Harvard University; Reform And Reformers; Writing & Writers W.E.B. DUBOIS AT HARVARD First Line: In harvard square Subject(s): Du Bois, William Edward B. (1868-1963); Harvard University; Reform And Reformers; Writing And Writers WALKING CHAPULTEPEC First Line: These gardens circle up WEDNESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETING Poem Text First Line: On wednesday night, / the church still opens at seven Last Line: Unwilling to chasnge their freedom for a god Subject(s): Prayer Meetings WEDNESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETING First Line: On wednesday night, %the church still opens at seven Last Line: Unwilling to change their freedom for a god Subject(s): Prayer Meetings WEDNESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETING First Line: On wednesday night Last Line: They have closed their night %with what certainty they could, %unwilling to change their freedom for Subject(s): Prayer Meetings WHAT IS GOOD Poem Text First Line: Out of the water call Subject(s): Relationships; Conduct Of Life; Mothers ZONES First Line: In the city of eternal spring Last Line: With the body's changing firmness, %to repair the constancy of things |
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