Today in a beam of sunthe baby’s eyelashes had gold in themand closed down on his cheek.Then clouds then sleet:April is fickle and all the worldis blowing, full of change.The baby holds my breast in his hand.The baby holds a goldfinch in his hand.The baby holds a piece of cloth against my cheekas if I were the crying one.
Madonna
Lindsay Turner
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Originally published as “Madonna.”
The New York Review of Books, December 18, 2025.
Copyright © 2025 Lindsay Turner.
Lindsay Turner’s third poetry collection, Middle Slope, is forthcoming in October from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. She is also a French-to-English translator of poetry, philosophy, and children’s books. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband and son and teaches at Case Western Reserve University.
December 18, 2025
New York, New York
Editor
Emily Greenhouse
Deputy Editor
Michael Shae
Executive Editor
Jana Prikryl
The New York Review of Books has established itself, in Esquire’s words, as “the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language.” The New York Review began during the New York publishing strike of 1963, when its founding editors, Robert Silvers and Barbara Epstein, and their friends, decided to create a new kind of magazine—one in which the most interesting and qualified minds of our time would discuss current books and issues in depth. Just as importantly, it was determined that the Review should be an independent publication; it began life as an independent editorial voice and it remains independent today.
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