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“When I imitate myself, I am a number of certain people,”

When I imitate myself, I am a number of certain people,
some of them certain. I, myself, am a master of certain people
which implies mastery is possible, something to look into,
esther spyglass, esther file cabinet. I store in me
a compelling fact: while the Book of Esther is one
of only two books that does not name God,

it is impossible to argue that Esther is unimportant to God.
If I named God, I would name him more like a boat
than a dog, but more like a dog than a dead relative.
Metaphysically, I am more centaur than dog, more centaur
than boat. It was my top half that said: “If you do not fear
death, you lack imagination,” which implies my top half

has mastered the art of speaking. I am a master of certain people
when I imitate myself, when I imitate myself
which parts of me are flattered? I have to believe the stagehand
is testing the lights, but I get to believe that to exist is to test the light.
If there’s a velvet curtain: I will be good when it lifts. God,
I haven’t confirmed my surroundings because I haven’t opened my eyes.

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“I'm so—”I start to apologize,but Albert laughs.“It's not my birthday,”he says.I'm confused.“It's for you, Bindi.”“Me?” I say. “It's notmy birthday, either.”Albert leads me to the chair.He hands me the present.I open it.It's one of thoseplastic trophy things.It says: “World's Best Sister.”I get all choked up.“I'm really proud of you,”says Albert.“You are?”“Totally. You came througha really rough time, Bindi.”“Not always with flying colors,”I say.“True, but you never gave up.”“I thought I did, sometimes.And you went to all this trouble?”Albert shrugs. “It's what brothers do.”Albert's grandmother pops her head in.I look up.Megan and Kyra are in the doorway,smiling.Mrs. Poole leads us allover to the table.The message on the cake reads:“Bravo to Our Bindi!”“Wow!” says Kyra.Megan turns to Albert.“Need another sister?” …

Eileen Spinelli

For one throb of the artery, …

William Butler Yeats

With “Waltzing Matilda,” funnel web spiders, and echidnas out of the way, you move on to the villanelle. The alien learns quickly, and soon the rhyme scheme and refrain are being applied to whatever it encounters: moonlight filling a green bucket by the door, a dog’s tooth in furniture, the sound of a nail gun. You go to bed and dream of planets disappearing like balls in a perfect snooker clearance. In the morning you find the walls papered with villanelles, each one signed by what appears to be a bar code. When you scan one with your phone, the screen lights up with footage of a satellite flyby through the heliosphere, trailing the sound of whale song, children crying, sustained applause, and Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.” …

Anthony Lawrence

Written on a slat of a railway car: …

Abraham Sutzkever

SR N e Vor. XLVIII …

Marion Strobel

I. …

Garrett Hongo

The weather's changes are the private rites …

Howard Nemerov

First the bad boots …

Paula Bohince

The glossary

The language about poetry

From aubade to zuihitsu, 207 definitions of the forms, figures, and schools that shape the line.

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