Ode to Mitski by William Fargason
Ode to Mitski
William Fargasonwhile driving today to pick up groceries
I drive over the bridge where it would be
so easy to drive right off the water
a blanket to lay over my head its feversI do want to live most days but today
I don’t I could let go of the wheel
and close my eyes but Mitski in my speakers
pulls me back to earth she keeps my handson the wheel when I want and I so often
want to die Mitski I cannot speak
to you like you speak to me a thousand lilies
rise up from the field on the other sideof the bridge I will fix my eyes to the field
with your help I will make it across
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in The Common, Issue 29, 2025.
ABOUT WILLIAM FARGASON
William Fargason is the author of Velvet (Northwestern University Press, 2024) and Love Song to the Demon-Possessed Pigs of Gadara (University of Iowa Press, 2020). His poetry has appeared in Ploughshares, The Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, New England Review, The Cincinnati Review, Narrative, and elsewhere. He has an MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland, and a PhD in poetry from Florida State University. He lives with himself in College Park, Maryland. (Source)
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ENDNOTES
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Gloria
I don’t think I’ve read anything that speaks to this experience I have most days of my life. This was beautiful, thank you.