#the lives of the poets

[septembersung]

What is your favorite tree?

I considered poems by William Stafford (“Oak,” “Willows,”) Wendell Berry, and Tolkien for this, but instead I’m giving you the concluding lines of poem that is very special to me: “The Lives of the Poets” by John Balaban.

we stopped before a storm-struck, twisted pear tree,

a remnant from an orchard of 100 years ago.

Out of the hulk of its blackened trunk,

one smooth-skinned branch sent forth some leaves.

“Still blooming?” I asked. “Madly,” he said.

[charbroiledchicken]

"you're the writer, you control how the story goes" no not really. i wrote the first sentence and then my characters said "WE WILL TAKE IT FROM HERE" and promptly swerved into an electrical fence.

[suslucicek]

[vanessa-rafesgirl]

me since april 19th

[pellazg]

I tasted her lips and realised ive been starving.

[europasage]

on being alive.

@delepiphany on pinterest // lucy dacus, please stay // @arthoesunshine // @leaf.guy_ on tiktok // bo burnham, that funny feeling // @peepuddle

[taylornation]

The smollest boy who ever lived. 🤏

[marvelous-tunes]

And I'll forget you, but I'll never forgive

The smallest man who ever lived.

[hits-differently]

you didn't measure up in any measure of a man

[hehearse]

[sstargrllll]

Good people end up with good people

and bad people end up with bad people.

[hopelessvalentines]

.. first poem: @shessensitivee

[xcleanx]

were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? were you writing a book? were you a sleeper-cell spy? in fifty years will all this be declassified? and you'll confess why you did it… and i'll say good riddance ’cause it wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden…. I WOULD’VE DIED FOR YOUR SINS INSTEAD I JUST DIED INSIDE!!!!!!!!! AND YOU DESERVE PRISON BUT YOU WON’T GET TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU’LL SLIDE INTO INBOXES AND SLIP THROUGH THE BARS YOU CRASHED MY PARTY IN YOUR RENTAL CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU SAID NORMAL GIRLS WERE BORING BUT YOU WERE GONE BY THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU KICKED OUT THE STAGE LIGHTS BUT YOU’RE STILL PERFORMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…………. and in the plain sight you hid……. and you are what you did…… and i’ll forget you but i’ll never forgive…. the smallest man who ever lived.

[hope-ur-ok]

something something about romanticizing escapism (my thoughts on this mashup are not currently coherent)

[sakshinarula]

I am not going to make my grief small and palatable. My love wasn't small either.

- Sakshi Narula

[marmialadee]