Giovanni Pascoli (translated from the Italian by Geoffrey Brock)
Three grapes, Giacinto, grow upon these vines:
The first is pleasure, and is clear as air;
the next is sweet amnesia. Drink their wines,
yes—but stop there . . .
from the book
Last Dream /
World Poetry Books
What Sparks Poetry is a serialized feature in which we invite poets to explore experiences and ideas that spark new poems.
For this series, The Poems of Others, we’ve invited poets to pay homage to the poems that led them to write.
Each essay is accompanied by a writing prompt based on an observation about the poem.
- October 20, 2021
Nava EtShalom
I woke up from marrying my father;
the window let in a little streeplamp shine.
None of us knew what time it was.
The streetlamp thought three. The boy
thought morning, and started to wake.
- October 19, 2021
Marjorie Welish
Itself
Sedentary in another language is language as such
Whether or not we can read it, sought
Because home. . .
- October 18, 2021
Brigit Pegeen Kelly
Strange about the kills we get without intending them.
Because we are pointed in the direction of something.
Because we are distracted at just the right moment, or the wrong.
- October 17, 2021
Shuri Kido (translated from the Japanese by Tomoyuki Endo & Forrest Gander)
A long slope.
The sun dipped, and finally sank.
No matter how long I walked, I stayed in "the middle of the road."
The name torn into pieces.
Just keeping on, climbing higher and higher
I'd completely forgotten the name.
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