Air
sight
impinges
on air
divvying it up
night sky
into a cup
black earth
(good omen)
full of mica
suspended overhead
it’s July
I’m full of joy
no steam heat
no cream teat
no dream meat
just walking around
watching the cup
dump its load
right on my head
cool black jelly
fulI of glints
hints
to remind me
of air
Poems by Kenward Elmslie are used by permission of The Estate of Kenward Elmslie.
Kenward Elmslie
Poet, fiction writer, playwright, lyricist, and librettist Kenward Elmslie was born on April 27, 1929, in New York, New York. His father, William, worked as a tutor for the Pulitzer family when he met Constance, the youngest daughter of Joseph Pulitzer, the famed newspaper publisher and founder of the Pulitzer Prizes. Elmslie was raised in Colorado Springs and Washington, D.C. He graduated from Harvard in 1950 with a BA in English.