Stephen Dunn Poems (15 Poems)
Slant (Stephen Dunn Poem)
Yesterday, for a long while, the early morning sunlight in the trees was sufficient, replaced by a hello from a long-limbed woman pedaling her bike, whereupon the wind came up, dispersing the mosquitoes. Blessings, all. I’d come so far, it … Continue reading
Walking The Marshland (Stephen Dunn Poem)
It was no place for the faithless, so I felt a little odd walking the marshland with my daughters, Canada geese all around and the blue herons just standing there; safe, and the abundance of swans. The girls liked saying … Continue reading
Landscape At The End Of The Century (Stephen Dunn Poem)
The sky in the trees, the trees mixed up with what’s left of heaven, nearby a patch of daffodils rooted down where dirt and stones comprise a kind of night, unmetaphysical, cool as a skeptic’s final sentence. What this scene … Continue reading
At The Smithville Methodist Church (Stephen Dunn Poem)
It was supposed to be Arts & Crafts for a week, but when she came home with the “Jesus Saves” button, we knew what art was up, what ancient craft. She liked her little friends. She liked the songs they … Continue reading
With No Experience In Such Matters (Stephen Dunn Poem)
To hold a damaged sparrow under water until you feel it die is to know a small something about the mind; how, for example, it blames the cat for the original crime, how it wants praise for its better side. … Continue reading
Named (Stephen Dunn Poem)
He’d spent his life trying to control the names people gave him; oh the unfair and the accurate equally hurt. Just recently he’d been a son-of-a-bitch and sweetheart in the same day, and once again knew what antonyms love and … Continue reading
Essay On The Personal (Stephen Dunn Poem)
Because finally the personal is all that matters, we spend years describing stones, chairs, abandoned farmhouses- until we’re ready. Always it’s a matter of precision, what it feels like to kiss someone or to walk out the door. How good … Continue reading
The Sudden Light And The Trees (Stephen Dunn Poem)
My neighbor was a biker, a pusher, a dog and wife beater. In bad dreams I killed him and once, in the consequential light of day, I called the Humane Society about Blue, his dog. They took her away and … Continue reading
Allegory Of The Cave (Stephen Dunn Poem)
He climbed toward the blinding light and when his eyes adjusted he looked down and could see his fellow prisoners captivated by shadows; everything he had believed was false. And he was suddenly in the 20th century, in the sunlight … Continue reading
The Routine Things Around The House (Stephen Dunn Poem)
When Mother died I thought: now I’ll have a death poem. That was unforgivable. Yet I’ve since forgiven myself as sons are able to do who’ve been loved by their mothers. I stared into the coffin knowing how long she’d … Continue reading
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