Michael Teig Poems

Thank you for the gift. Never have I seen
a more thoughtful tea-strainer.
For you I'm striking a silent movie pose.
...

When he couldn't sleep and his sight got going
he noted the colors on the back of each painting;
...

I could stay here humming
and amuse myself with the window.
The lowing cows you cannot see.
Another month I made up. Another asterisk.
...

Since I've come home, put on all my shoes,
watched lawns, frankly green and unapologetic,
lick up to rickety bridges, the neighborhood houses
...

And now the evening settles like a giant body into a bath,
exhaling clouds and car-lights—coughing out birds.
After inspecting the windows for hours I tried the door.
Only boondocks grow here by the riverbank.
...