In greece I stole a bust of plato
looks like you pop I said same
beard same scowl he throws you
away I’ll find you at the landfill
& kiss your white marble head
*
While his eyes are blinking
he will pity the light he said
when the whole body turned
from youth the single aim of
the state was to fight shadows
©
's work has appeared or is forthcoming in Tin House, Boston Review, Colorado Review, Crazyhorse, Kenyon Review, Drunken Boat, La Petite Zine, Handsome, Publishers Weekly, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. He was born in the Catskills.
Allyson Paty is the author of The Further Away. Her poems have appeared or will appear in publications including Tin House, DIAGRAM, Harpur Palate, Juked, and Boxcar Poetry Review. She is from New York.
Previous Torch Songs have appeared in Gulf Coast, Colorado Review, The Awl, HTMLGiant, Bridge, and Underwater New York.
Schoonebeek’s poem “Torch Song: Margaret” also appears in this issue.
