My Wife & I Go Down the Road
Blest pair of Sirens, Voice & Verse,
Keep the hollow from our purse,
Now that we have put you first;
Give us both enough to eat,
Shoes below to clothe our feet,
Rafters up above from sleet;
Tea and honey for the throat,
Pen and paper for the notes,
And the lines for which I hope.
Doubt
I am no longer confident of culmination—
The voice of Truth, the Protean voice of forms,
Languishing responsive to elation,
Is like a youth held fast with fascination
In an old man’s arms.
Benson Bobrick earned his doctorate in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. His many books have been featured on the front page of The New York Times Book Review, widely praised in both academic and popular journals, and published in translation in twelve different lands. Over the years, several of his works have been selected as “New York Times Notable Books of the Year.” In 2002, he received the Literature Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Two distinguished poets, Galway Kinnell and Robert Pinsky, served on the award committee that year. He lives in Vermont.
Sparks of Calliope 