Kenneth Koch Poems (12 Poems)
Bel Canto (Kenneth Koch Poems)
The sun is high, the seaside air is sharp,And salty light reveals the Mayan School.The Irish hope their names are on the harp,We see the sheep’s advertisement for wool,Boulders are here, to throw against a tarp,From which comes bursting forth … Continue reading
Variations At Home And Abroad (Kenneth Koch Poems)
It takes a lot of a person’s lifeTo be French, or English, or AmericanOr Italian. And to be at any age. To live at any certain time.The Polish-born resident of Manhattan is not merely a representative of general humanityAnd neither is … Continue reading
To My Father’s Business (Kenneth Koch Poems)
Leo bends over his desk Gazing at a memorandum While Stuart stands beside him With a smile, saying, “Leo, the order for those desks Came in today From Youngstown Needle and Thread!” C. Loth Inc., there you are Like Balboa the conqueror Of those who want to buy office … Continue reading
Mountain (Kenneth Koch Poems)
Nothing’s moving I don’t see anybodyAnd I know that it’s not a trickThere really is nothing moving thereAnd there aren’t any people. It is the very utmost topWhere, as is not unusual,There is snow, lying like the hair on a … Continue reading
News (Kenneth Koch Poems)
They stirI cool her in winterA second so gilded that the bit goesFrom my gold thigh I thirsts for her, stirring, from my lip snow wishingA second so warm that the pointer clings What did my arm do before it collected her?I have no faith Like … Continue reading
A Momentary Longing To Hear Sad Advice From One Long Dead (Kenneth Koch Poems)
Who was my teacher at Harvard. Did not wear overcoatSaying to me as we walked across the YardCold brittle autumn is you should be wearing overcoat. I saidYou are not wearing overcoat. He said,You should do as I say not … Continue reading
Paradiso (Kenneth Koch Poems)
There is no way not to be excitedWhen what you have been disillusioned by raises its headFrom its arms and seems to want to talk to you again.You forget home and familyAnd set off on foot or in your automobileAnd … Continue reading
Poem For My Twentieth Birthday (Kenneth Koch Poems)
Passing the American graveyard, for my birthdaythe crosses stuttering, white on tropical green,the years’ quick focus of faces I do not remember . . . The palm trees stalking like deliberate giantsfor my birthday, and all the hot adolescent memoriesseen … Continue reading
To Various Persons Talked To All At Once (Kenneth Koch Poem)
You have helped hold me together. I’d like you to be still. Stop talking or doing anything else for a minute. No. Please. For three minutes, maybe five minutes. Tell me which walk to take over the hill. Is there … Continue reading
One Train May Hide Another (Kenneth Koch Poem)
(sign at a railroad crossing in Kenya) In a poem, one line may hide another line, As at a crossing, one train may hide another train. That is, if you are waiting to cross The tracks, wait to do it … Continue reading
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