My friend, My friend
Who will forgive me for the things I do?
With no special legend of God to refer to,
With my calm white pedigree, my yankee kin,
I think it would be better to be a Jew.
I forgive you for what you did not do.
I am impossibly quilty. Unlike you,
My Friend, I can not blame my origin
With no special legend or God to refer to. Details »
Author : Olivia Lewit
Eating Poetry
Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry. Details »
Author : Olivia Lewit
Morning Song
Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.
Author : Olivia Lewit
In a dark time
In a dark time, the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;
I hear my echo in the echoing wood–
A lord of nature weeping to a tree.
I live between the heron and the wren,
Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den.
Author : Olivia Lewit
Lullaby
Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.
Details »
Author : Olivia Lewit
WE ARE COOL – 1960
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Author : Olivia Lewit
A DREAM FOR WINTER
(October 1870, in a railway carriage)
In the winter, we shall travel in a little pink railway carriage
With blue cushions.
We shall be comfortable. A nest of mad kisses lies in wait
In each soft corner.
Author : Olivia Lewit
THE DANCE
When the world ends,
I will be in a red dress.
When the world ends,
I will be in a smoky bar
…..on Friday night.
Details »
Author : Olivia Lewit
Coffee and Dolls
It was a storefront for a small-time numbers runner,
pretending to be some sort of grocery. Coffeemakers
and Bustello cans populated the shelves, sparsely.
Who was fooled. The boxes bleached in the sun,
the old guys sat inside on summer lawn chairs,
watching tv. The applause from the talk shows and game shows
washed out the propped-open door like distant rain.
Details »
Author : Olivia Lewit
Travel
The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn’t a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking. Details »
Author : Olivia Lewit
Genius child – 1947
This is a song for the genius child.
Sing it softly, for the song is wild.
Sing it softly as ever you can—
Lest the song get out of hand.
Author : Olivia Lewit
Hither, hither, sweet—
‘Tis a cowslip bed—
Hither, hither, sweet!
‘Tis with dew bespread!
Author : Olivia Lewit
HEAVY WATER BLUES (1967)
The radio is teaching my goldfish Jujuitsu
I’m in love with a skindiver who sleeps underwater,
My neighbors are drunken linguists, and I speak butterfly,
Consolidated Edison is threatening to cut off my brain,
The postman keeps putting sex in my mailbox,
My mirror died, and can’t tell if I still reflect,
I put my eyes on a diet, my tears are gaining too much weight.
Author : Olivia Lewit