3:16 [For]
For
who hands o-
ver their on-
ly begot-
ten any-
thing to this
white-teethed world
if god so
loved I nev-
er knew him
From The Night Angler. Copyright © 2018 by Geffrey Davis. Used with the permission of BOA Editions.
Poems
Find and share the perfect poems.
More by this poet
During the last 50 miles back from haul & some
months past my 15th birthday, my father fishes
a stuffed polar bear from a Salvation Army
gift-bin, labeled Boys: 6-10. I can almost see him
approach the decision: cold, a little hungry, not enough
money in his pocket for coffee. He worries
he might fall asleep behind the wheel as his giant,
clumsy love for that small word—son—guides
his gaze to the crudely-sewn fabric of the miniature bear
down at the bottom of the barrel. Seasons have flared
2016
Dear Mother,
Your early lessons got me to bear the fearful sounds
that faith can make while clearing its throat. I remember
the hard man who reaped our purpling timothy-grass
each spring unbuttoning his tanned jacket to show
2024
—after Amanda Shires
Another bird tucks the gray flute of its body
through a tree’s tangle of dusky branches, and
the boy at the desk of my heart starts.
2025