Charles Reznikoff Poems

Not because of victories
I sing,
having none,
but for the common sunshine,
...

So proudly she came into the subway car
all who were not reading their newspapers saw
the head high and the slow tread—
coat wrinkled and her belongings in a paper bag,
...

They landed and could
see nothing but
meadows and tall
trees—
...

His father carved umbrella handles, but when umbrella
handles were made by machinery, there was only one
man for whom his father could work.
The pay was small, though it had once been a good trade.
...

The troopers are riding, are riding by
the troopers are riding to kill and die
that a clean flag may cleanly fly.
...

When he was four years old, he stood at the window during a
thunderstorm. His father, a tailor, sat on the table sewing.
He came up to his father and said, "I know what makes
...

I
New Year's

The solid houses in the mist
are thin as tissue paper;
...

"The lamps are burning in the synagogue,
in the houses of study, in dark alleys. . ."
This should be the place.
...