Robert Polito Poems

As phantoms direct life from the shadows,

I feel
I leaned on something,
and it broke.
...

Oh, de wars and de scrapes
And de sprees am done—sprees am done
De foe am beat.
De Turks am drowned—Turks am drowned.
All safe and sounds
...

When I can't make you understand I repeat myself
I repeat

If you don't stop asking me all these questions how
Will I understand anything
...

for Patti Smith
At the end of Bing Crosby's Riding High his horse
Will be buried in the clay of the racetrack where he fell,
As a lesson for all of us. Sad, waggish Bing,
...

Air here is like the water
Of an aquarium that's been lived in for a while—clear and still
Beyond the rigors
Of glass; appearing cold (and clear) as spring streams
Fed by snow and ice,
...