Current Issue: Fall/Winter 2010

Vow to Continue to Avoid All Drama and Strife  
Noelle Kocot

Because I know the difference,
Because I smell you in summer with your faded dress,
Because now, the leaves will start to turn,
Because there is a message I have for you
Tucked away inside my shirt,
If you bother me again, I will remain impassive,
And I will also pray.
Because we go along together, sprouting evening
From our shoes,
And because the happiest times I've had have been
Ones of calm.
I get it now, I'm 40.
I had some growing up to do, some grieving,
Some this and that.
And now the summer is ending, friend,
And I wish that I could take this burden from you,
But now, I think I won't,
And will just remain here like I am,
A watchman on a tower, which was your vision
For me, even when I felt small and so afraid. 

 

Noelle Kocot is the author of four books of poetry, two from Four Way Books, and two, most recently, from Wave Books, entitled Poem for the End of Time and Other Poems (2006) and Sunny Wednesday (2009).  She has a discography forthcoming from Wave in 2010, and also a new book of poetry forthcoming from Wave in 2011, entitled The Bigger World.   She has received awards from The Academy of American Poets, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Fund for Poetry and The American Poetry Review.