Two Poems by Denver Butson
drowning ghazal
first line by Vicente Huidobro
I am absent but deep in this absence
asleep but asleep in this absence
glass rattle a tongue remembers rains
how long can one keep in this absence
the waves from far off lisp her name
the brooms of dusk sweep in this absence
rain on the driveway stones is my one morphine
forget counting sheep in this absence
last night I woke in some hotel outside Denver
tried but couldn’t weep in this absence
drowning ghazal
first line by Claire Malroux
then to return with your pittance of sky
to bow deeply and bid good riddance to sky
there is a cafe outside the dream station
threads of avenues ribbons of sky
this is the kind of rain that cities drown in
notice the flooded streets witness this sky
a can collector woke me this morning
screaming twenty fracs for love sixpence for sky
in one arrondissement there is rue Denver
a few moments of tree an instance of sky
