The Peace That So Lovingly Descends
"You" have transformed into "my loss." The nettles in your vanished hair Restore the absolute truth Of warring animals without a haven. I know, I'm as pathetic as a railroad Without tracks. In June, I eat The lonesome berries from the branches. What can I say, except the forecast Never changes. I sleep without you, And the letters that you sent Are now faded into failed lessons Of an animal that's found a home. This.
Credit
Noelle Kocot, "The Peace That So Lovingly Descends" from Sunny Wednesday. Copyright © 2009 by Noelle Kocot. Used by permission of Wave Books. All rights reserved.
Author
Noelle Kocot
Noelle Kocot is the author of nine collections, including Ascent of the Mothers (Wave Books, 2023); God’s Green Earth (Wave Books, 2020); and Soul in Space (Wave Books, 2013). Kocot’s poems have been anthologized in Best American Poetry in 2001, 2012, and 2013.
Kocot is the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, The Fund for Poetry, and the American Poetry Review. They were also the recipient of a residency fellowship from the Lannan Foundation.
Date Published
01/01/2009