I’m honored to be reading with esteemed translator and poet David Ferry, whose recently published translation of the Aeneid has received rave reviews. I have two more readings in March (see flyer below).

Here’s a poem that I’m proud to have published in J Journal, which is affiliated with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at CUNY. And here’s a link to the journal’s online section, Writings on Writing, in which I talk about the dual spheres I feel I live in these days, and the challenge of finding the right tone for a poem that raises social justice and environmental issues. If you’d like to read more, click here:

http://jjournal2.jjay.cuny.edu/jjournal/?attachment_id=1025

Probability Theory

 

I’ve been trying to get dressed

in time to take out the recycle bins

but my daughter’s just called

from New York to FaceTime

with my granddaughter

so I’ll definitely let the tins

of cat food sweat it out

with the plastic milk

and humus containers

in their bin on the back porch

just before she called

a climate scientist said on the radio

we have probably 100 years

to prevent total climate catastrophe

and if we had the technology of 100 years ago

with the 7 billion of us alive today

we’d for sure be goners

though if we had the population

of 100 years ago and today’s technology

we’d sail right through

but there’s almost a 50/50 chance

given today’s population

whether today’s technology

can actually save us that’s only

a few generations away

and my granddaughter has no idea

what kind of world she’s been born into

and I don’t want to miss a single glimpse

of her happily stacking and snapping

the interlocking parts of her

Duplo blocks together even though

they’re cheap LEGO® knockoffs

that came in a huge zippered plastic bag

from TJ Maxx by way of China

and there’s probably better than

a 50/50 chance they don’t work

as well as the real thing