For S., at the Boat Pond

Jean Valentine

The newspapers blowing over the street
made her cry, all the birds in New York were crying
because they couldn't speak Greek,

she took nothing with her and went out onto the street.
The day was obscure, one more
lick of the quiet licking at the door,

her soft black magic, swallowing him, the children,
the world: leaving, everyone leaving,

all turning angels or nothing,
nothing or swimming like paradise children.

Jean Valentine was an American poet. She won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2004 for her collection Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003.
Originally published:
April 8, 2022

Featured

Louise Glück’s Late Style

The fabular turn in the poet’s last three books
Teju Cole

The Critic as Friend

The challenge of reading generously
Merve Emre

Rachel Cusk

The novelist on the “feminine non-state of non-being”
Merve Emre

You Might Also Like

Poem of the Week

Elegy for Oneida Creek

Emma Aylor


The Couples

Jean Valentine

Newsletter

Sign up for The Yale Review newsletter and keep up with news, events, and more.