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2024 William Carlos Williams Prize

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SHORT HISTORY OF O

by Christos Kalli



 

Poets say shot dead man down pierced through and turned from the inside out The currency of the body spent the wallet in his chest emptied the palms no longer begging for alms They write the infinite - simal white in the snow knocking on the window in the face of some god without a name So much white you need a boat to carry it against the black sky So much white on the bed sheets you see a ghost circling the room like a predator smelling the silence There must be a moon or two If there is not there must be a storm Water only good enough for drowning the animals of grief hiding behind the clock The floorboard creaking with disbelief The floorboard that is only good enough for prayer and knees Poets ask nothing about language How short is the life of an O when there are no onlookers around How long until the stolen syllables return to the tongue How fast can a single hand rebuild the mouth-shaped hole left on the wall

 





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