The Brooklyn Rail

DEC 16-JAN 17

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DEC 16-JAN 17 Issue
Poetry

Four

 

Take The Case

i'm tired of these vigils
these flags at half-mast

armbands follow me home
but how many deaths
how many deaths
will it take
to make
this nation
break loose


 

 

 

 

 

Let horrors

A clump of morning goes up
goes down past
a rain-slit sheet of music.

The past is still ahead.
Traces of ripped blue sky.
Ballot box, flag, shrapnel.

Let horrors & hurrahs concatenate.

 

 

 

 

 

Which In Turn

descent
and
descent
into
the
I am sorry hole
beneath
our
windows
the
midpoint
being
us
in
and
out
of
the
I am sorry hole
the
when
is
the
what

 

 

 

 

 

Realm & Umbrella

Tow the rippers to the fray.

Here's what Goya
does in the gaps-

No matter where I look
I see the gas mask.

We sit beside badges
& footprints about to break.

The angle of terror.
The dystopian novel.


 

 

Contributor

Uche Nduka

Uche Nduka—poet and essayist—is the author of twelve volumes of poems of which the latest are LIVING IN PUBLIC (2018) and FACING YOU (2020).

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The Brooklyn Rail

DEC 16-JAN 17

All Issues