Chris Price Poems

We were on the rebound
from perfection, piling on the dirt —

a mellotron, the wheezy breath
of old vinyl, character
...

If this were child's play
and I could choose

I'd be the dog —
body a soft black curve
...

(for Gertrude Elion, Nobel Prize-winning chemist)


It begins with the swing of limbs,
simple as catching
a ball: the rhythm of release
...

Imagining transcendence
we pinned the wings
of swans to the blunt
nubs of our shoulder-blades
...

If David Beach is right, and
a poem is an opening line
plus work, then how to work
up this opening line when it has
...

for Jonathan Besser

The sadness of bells sitting silent
shelved like a library of hearts
...

After raiding your wardrobe
I feel so much more myself.

I feel so much more myself
that I do a little dance
...

Of course his clothes don't fit
no longer even look like him

and the blue light doesn't suit
whatever tone it is his skin
...

All of my best lines are accidents.

You cannot generate an accident.
You can only put yourself
...