Left the body Drowsd a little Done with soul – What to think Dusting up crown Garment mirror Pull me close – Quietness and calm Rest and rejoice No more doubt Astonishing! – Bird and pencil dining Bird and pencil dining – Special visitors Walking on stilts in snow – On the subject of assurance I should have I should have – Self-scrap Imagination on the bias – Language of cold Sitting beside sleep Body as empty shell – When I came home it was very late There was little in work but did go on – Civil fortification years awayaway whishth chipping
Chipping Sparrow
To Fanny Howe
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Copyright © 2025 by Susan Howe.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.
Nina Subin
SUSAN HOWE was born in Boston in 1937. Fifteen of her books have been published by New Directions. “Our finest metaphysical poet” (The Village Voice), Susan Howe has been called “as fascinating and compelling as any writer we have” (The Harvard Review), and “as clear and fresh as a draught of well water” (John Ashbery).
September 2025
Chicago, Illinois
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Founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world. Harriet Monroe’s “Open Door” policy, set forth in Volume I of the magazine, remains the most succinct statement of Poetry’s mission: to print the best poetry written today, in whatever style, genre, or approach.
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