Ecstatic Joy and Its Variants | Peter Gizzi | Granta

Ecstatic Joy and Its Variants

Peter Gizzi

as surely as this is about seeing you dance naked

it is also about the sky and Mahler in the wan distance
heard by a child

as surely as the sadness never leaves and that music
heals the night with its deeps and neon

as surely as the glow of the radiator at 3 a.m.,
a line of inquiry, souvenirs, a signature for the sun

o bed of stray barrettes, discourse, and water
bed of laughter, hot takes, dried blood
bed of cedar bows, pinhole light, thing music


Peter Gizzi

Peter Gizzi’s recent books include, Now It's DarkSky Burial: New and Selected Poems and Archeophonics. A new book, Fierce Elegy, is forthcoming in 2023. Photograph © Jon Beacham

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