Last Bender

Poem Day 8 Today I think Of the pregnant woman’s belly Like a bag of swag In a white T shirt And her swollen face She’s relaxed Letting go Because she might fart Any second And her heart Is harrowed with puke She leans back in her chair Like a boss But there’s that belly [...]

from the Paris Review Interview, 2005: GILBERT: “I think serious poems should make something happen that’s not correct or entertaining or clever. I want something that matters to my heart, and I don’t mean “Linda left me.” I don’t want that. I’ll write that poem, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about [...]

Poem Written in January I gather the sun from out of the blinds I gather the sun in my hands weaving the strands of light on the floor sunbeams like cobwebs of lion and lemon forsythia pale on the snow