Sonnet
If joints
swell and limbs
wither, if you've been
rejected before
the cup arrived,
if a left
is made, if bedlam
comes from
Bethlehem—
buildings will weep for lost siblings.
kohl-circled eyes will stare above dusty cheeks.
the river water will resemble river water
but only under a certain sun.
a softened body will learn to tell time.
Sonnet Plus
Whether dark left a mark
on sky blue, whether
the corner had been turned down
(on cue), whether I had
enough liquid to spread
among the days (and
nights), what
my brother’s name was
(according to whom), whether
the clothing would fit
off the rack, whether it really
meant fix, whether frown,
toast, critical mass, whether left
unattended,
you will be asked to run a number of tests
your signature will be illegible
you will not be in the helping profession
if fame, the world will emerge
sparkle off
your glass
[ _______________ ]
door-to-door
potholders of summer
benefit the guild
(trembles
getting into the pool)
knife man
does scissors too
like rarest annual
blooms one day only
so this wish
to
be sung
erroneously crossed t
(no
it was beautiful)
(eliminate
beautiful)
ingratiating A
lace diaphram
(dusty
performance)
mint and lilac
tiger lily
sparse grass under
the central tree
bio:
Sarah Rosenthal's recent work has appeared
or is forthcoming in such magazines as Aufgabe, Bird Dog,
Shampoo, can we have our ball back?, Sugar Mule, VeRT, Poetry
Salzburg, Tin Lustre Mobile, and Xcp (Cross Cultural Poetics),
as well as in anthologies such as hinge (Crack Press,
2002), The Other Side of the Postcard (City Lights,
forthcoming), and the Faux Press Bay Area Anthology
(Faux Press, forthcoming). She is the author of three chapbooks:
How I Wrote This Story (Margin to Margin, 2001),
sitings (a+bend, 2000), and not-chicago
(Melodeon, 1998). Her interviews with Bay Area writers have
appeared in Rain Taxi, Jacket, Alleybeat, and Aufgabe.
She is the recipient of the Primavera Fiction Prize and the
Leo Litwak Award.
