Most Days I Want to Live by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Most Days I Want to Live
Gabrielle CalvocoressiNot all days. But most days
I do. Most days the garden’s
almost enough: little pink flowers
on the sage, even though
the man said we couldn’t eat
it. Not this kind. And I said,
Then, gosh. What’s the point?
The flowers themselves,
I suppose. The rain came
and then the hail came and my love
brought them in. Even tipped
over they look optimistic.
I know it’s too late to envy
the flowers. That century’s
over and done. And hope?
That’s a jinx. But I did set them
right. I patted them a little.
And prayed for myself, which
is embarrassing to admit
in this day and age. But I did it.
Because no one was looking
or listening anyway.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in SIR (Southern Indiana Review, Volume 23, No. 1) by Gabrielle Calvocoressi, published by University of Southern Indiana, 2016.
ABOUT GABRIELLE CALVOCORESSI
Gabrielle Calvocoressi is the author of The New Economy (2025), Rocket Fantastic (2018), winner of the Audre Lorde Prize for Lesbian Poetry, Apocalyptic Swing (2009), and The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart (2005). Calvocoressi is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including a Stegner Fellowship and Jones Lectureship from Stanford University, the Bernard F. Conners Prize from The Paris Review, and a residency from the Civitella di Ranieri Foundation, among others. She teaches… (more)
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ENDNOTES
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