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Triplex

A Prayer
Let them not war in me
these three,
Savior-of-cities,
Flower-of-destiny,
and she
Twinborn-with-Phoebos,
fending gallantly.
Let them not hate in me
these three,
Maid
of the luminous grey eyes,
Mistress
of honey and marble implacable white thighs,
and Goddess
chaste daughter of Zeus,
most beautiful in the skies.

Let them grow side by side in me
these three,
violets
dipped purple in stark Attic light,
rose
scorched (on Cyprus coast)
ambrosial white,
and wild
exquisite hill-crocus
from Arcadian snows.

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Queene B. Lister

It had been a long day at the office and a long ride back to the small apartment where I lived. When I got there I flicked on the light and saw on the table an envelope with my name on it. Where was the clock? Where was the calendar? The handwriting was my father’s, but he had been dead for forty years. As one might, I began to think that maybe, just maybe, he was alive, living a secret life somewhere nearby. How else to explain the envelope? To steady myself, I sat down, opened it, and pulled out the letter. “Dear Son,” was the way it began. “Dear Son” and then nothing. …

Mark Strand

These folks ’bout to respect me into the grave. …

Mary Moore Easter

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Hannah Gamble

Across the street, the carpenter carries a golden …

Stephen Dobyns

A golden wheel …

May Miller

I strolled upon the Brooklyn Bridge one day, …

Ameen Rihani

And here I am, …

Forugh Farrokhzad

The glossary

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