Lullaby

/ Issue 10.1 /

(After W.H. Auden)

 

The human arm is sleepless.
Fevers, proves, paid children
on the head of love—
on the individual scorned.

But my arms break
with the day entirely beautiful—
ordinary matter, grave
vision, knocking bell.

The head breaks, the eyes break,
glaciers wake, blow tolerant,

pass tolerant into the night—
the boring cry of a whisper,
the fashionable knocking
enough to strike fidelity.

Katy Lederer

Katy Lederer

Katy Lederer is the author of three collections of poems, most recently The bright red horse—and the blue— (Atelos). From 1997 to 2007 she edited Explosive Magazine, a mimeo poetry journal featuring art work and design by David Larsen and Dave Morice. From 2005 to 2014, she served as a Poetry Editor for Fence Magazine.
Katy Lederer

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Author: Katy Lederer

Katy Lederer is the author of three collections of poems, most recently The bright red horse—and the blue— (Atelos). From 1997 to 2007 she edited Explosive Magazine, a mimeo poetry journal featuring art work and design by David Larsen and Dave Morice. From 2005 to 2014, she served as a Poetry Editor for Fence Magazine.