Page 27 - WTP Vol. IX #6

Night Ships Blues Villanelle
Cold winds come with an itch and a shiver The night ships pass in their shadowy way I watch the streetlights steam on the river
The steel cut moon sends a ghostly sliver How come what happened happened today? I saw the streetlights bleed on the river
My blood’s so thick my veins almost slither We’re here for a while: Enjoy your stay!
Cold winds come with an itch and a shiver
I can’t really do much more than dither Been trying to find the right time to pray I know the streetlights burn on the river
Remember that movie: Stand and Deliver?— One a’them stories that affirms and betrays Cold winds hum with an itch and a shiver
When the sun goes down, the night’s a conniver The mind runs to itself—what else can I say? Bad dreams come with an itch and a shiver
Talk to the dark till your lip starts to quiver Or follow some dog till you limp like a stray Then walk the streetlights into the river
Like an old leaf, one hand starts to wither You open the obits—your name’s on display
Cold winds thrum with an itch and a shiver Come see the night ships burn on the river
Seibles’ seventh poetry collection, Voodoo Libretto: New and Selected Poems, will be published in Janaury 2022 by Etruscan Press. His other books include One Turn Around the Sun (2017) and Fast Animal (2012), which won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize, the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Other titles are Buffalo Head Solos, Hammerlock, Hurdy-Gurdy and Body Moves. Formerly the Poet Laureate of Virginia, he taught for many years at Old Dominion University.
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