Only the poets

I woke early this morning to the news that a certain Republican senator had tweeted last night his intention to vote against witnesses in the impeachment trial. Trying to push down a sense of anger and dismay, I returned to Lisa Rosenberg’s poem which I first read yesterday.

Lisa sent us a poem with a limited window of relevance. One that is closing as we speak. And I marvel at this practice of ours. We do this lonely, quiet work with rather strict rules on publishing credit. Was she confident we would get back to her in time? That the stage would be provided? She took the time to write a limited window villanelle. You couldn’t get me to work in that form for money, with the promise of it set in granite. She took time to edit. Took at least an hour out of her day to draft a cover letter in which she spoke elegantly on the point of it all.

I am having a hard time seeing the point of it all.

But when I read The Skies Have It, I forget momentarily everything falling. I remember the dignity, the quiet breath in truth-telling.

There’s also this, and maybe it only matters to the poets. But Lisa Rosenberg landed a deserving publishing credit today for a poem that needs to sound.

We give you, The Skies Have It.