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The Fallen Oak

original Italian poem

audio of "La Quercia Caduta"
Geoffrey Brock reads the original poem, La Quercia Caduta by Giovanni Pascoli in Italian

La Quercia Caduta

Dov’era l’ombra, or sé la quercia spande
morta, né più coi turbini tenzona.
La gente dice: Or vedo: era pur grande!

Pendono qua e là dalla corona
i nidietti della primavera.
Dice la gente: Or vedo: era pur buona!

Ognuno loda, ognuno taglia. A sera
ognuno col suo grave fascio va.
Nell’aria, un pianto… d’una capinera

che cerca il nido che non troverà.

(1900)

November

original Italian poem

audio of "Novembre"
Geoffrey Brock reads the original poem, Novembre by Giovanni Pascoli in Italian

Novembre

Gemmea l’aria, il sole cosí chiaro
che tu ricerchi gli albicocchi in fiore,
e del prunalbo l’odorino amaro
senti nel cuore.

Ma secco è il pruno, e le stecchite piante
di nere trame segnano il sereno,
e vuoto il cielo, e cavo al piè sonante
sembra il terreno.

Silenzio, intorno: solo, alle ventate,
odi lontano, da giardini ed orti,
di foglie un cader fragile. È l’estate,
fredda, dei morti.

(1891)

All He Whispered: 1981

All He Whispered: 1981

In high school, everybody beat him up.
Not just the thugs, whose ire he seemed to court,
But even those who weren’t the fighting sort.
Like tiny Pete Maloney, nicknamed Pup,

Who broke his nose. Or shy, sweet Wanda Speers,
Who burst from her chair one morning in Home Ec,
Beat him down to the floor, then kicked his neck.
Neither told what he’d whispered in their ears.

Shades of Tucson: 2005

Shades of Tucson: 2005

I have two trees in my front yard. Jesús,
my next-door neighbor, told me yesterday
I ought to cut the chinaberry down:
non-native, he said. The other, a eucalyptus,

was planted fifty years ago by James,
who grew up in this house, though he now lives
across the street, next door to Mrs. Chávez,
whose husband (James once told me) tried to drive

Lauds

Lauds

                       My eyes open to a cry,
then flinch back shut. O Lord make haste to help me.
          Why can’t he wake up like the saints,

Weighing Light: Poems

The fifth winner of the annual New Criterion Poetry Prize. From the glinting scales in a painting by Vermeer to the white lines that disappear beneath a headlight's beam, Mr. Brock's poems measure out the often elusive weights and distances of the known world, confronting the unruly powers that threaten his burnished surfaces. Once read, his keen perceptions--all the more striking for the expertly cadenced music of his language and his supple use of poetic form--will be long remembered.

cover of Weighing Light: Poemsauthor: Geoffrey Brock
ASIN or ISBN-10: 1566636671
binding: Hardcover
list price: $18.95 USD
amazon price: $14.21 USD


Gary Lehmann

Gary Lehmann teaches writing and poetry at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and has been the Writer in Residence at Roberts Wesleyan College. His poetry and short stories are widely published -- about 60 pieces a year. He is the director of the Athenaeum Poetry group.    When not writing or teaching, he works on becoming an amateur shoemaker.

Sunset

Sunset

Sarah Skwire

Sarah Skwire lives and works in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has published poems in The New Criterion, WOE, Coracle, The Oxford Magazine, The Vocabula Review, and elsewhere. She has also published a range of academic work, mostly on 17th century literature.

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