Thursday, January 21, 2016

PHILIP METRES


Gardens: A Retranslation


Behind one’s back,
sight unseen—

quite enough.
Alone with one

another.  To stare.
To glossy.  Eye

socket.  Peep

Two missionaries got home and discovered their apartment had been robbed. They called the police. When they arrived they walked around the apartment, showing them that everything was gone except for a camera, untouched on the mantle.  When the police left the missionaries sat down…now the camera was missing

hole.  Tonsils

swollen. Voice
in the wilderness

icing over.
As the saying

goes.  Openly.




                                                                                           ---Philip Metres




Philip Metres is the author of Pictures at an Exhibition (2016), Sand Opera (2015), and To Seethe Earth, among others. A two-time recipient of the NEA and the Arab American Book Award, he is professor of English at John Carroll University.


No comments:

Post a Comment