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Lasciare Stare

My father took a puff from his Camel / and dispatched his message / in smoky cursive, Lasciare stare, / then said it again softly

Love Language

I read somewhere that most men receive flowers / for the first time at their funeral. So I filled a vase / in your apartment with puckered roses

The Eulogy I Didn’t Give (V)

Are you writing his eulogy in advance? Are you afraid / to sleep at night? Afraid your bones are planning / their escape? And what do you mean by love? 

Outpouring

Read this web-only poem about the protests in response to ICE

In the aftermath of a second killing by federal agents in Minneapolis, Alison Luterman wrote “Outpouring,” a poem about the massive protests in response to ICE’s presence in the city. It’s a reflection of the enormity of emotion that these terrible events have brought forth—outrage and fear, yes, but most of all love for our neighbors.

I Always Wanted a Wife

I didn’t mean to / eat your berries, he’d sing after eating / all the blackberries I’d been saving / for breakfast, and I couldn’t be mad then / because he’d made me laugh.

Tassajara

The abbot declared your beloved pit bull had Buddha nature, / so you carried her sixty muscled pounds to the mountain // monastery, where we sat sesshin and she ate wool socks, / a box of chocolates, and eight pages of Robert Aitken.