Thirst

/ Issue 9.3 /

In my first hour, the thirst was for air,
then for my mother, then
existence—
who could I look to be?

From our first walk alone,
when you’re away
or I’m away
I thirst to walk with you
……………… neverleaving. And blackbird, fly

in the after time.

Jean Valentine

Jean Valentine

Jean Valentine is the author of more than a dozen collections of poetry, including Dream Barker, which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize in 1965, and Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003, which won the National Book Award in 2004. The Poet Laureate of New York from 2008 to 2010, she was awarded the Bollingen Prize earlier in 2017 for her most recent book, Shirt in Heaven (Copper Canyon Press).
Jean Valentine

Also by Jean Valentine (see all)

Author: Jean Valentine

Jean Valentine is the author of more than a dozen collections of poetry, including Dream Barker, which won the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize in 1965, and Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003, which won the National Book Award in 2004. The Poet Laureate of New York from 2008 to 2010, she was awarded the Bollingen Prize earlier in 2017 for her most recent book, Shirt in Heaven (Copper Canyon Press).