Rodney Koeneke’s most recent book of poems, Body & Glass, is just out from Wave Books. You can find a sampler of poems at the Wave Books site. Other collections include Etruria (Wave, 2014), Musee Mechanique (BlazeVOX, 2006), and Rouge State (Pavement Saw, 2003). His work has appeared in Fence, Granta, Harriet, Harper’s, The Nation, Poetry, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

song of the south

Ponies nicker in paddocks,
cows consider ruefully
inedible carpets of flowers.

Dressed in good silks,
I stayed loyal to my lord
and so stained them.

There were orchestras
and opulence but times,
as the world, will change.

The garden’s colored
globes of light depend
on the hiddenest filaments.

As geese think to migrate,
At last I come to understand
my context—the coaches

I waved from rattled with decorous
plangency. What was it
while in them I missed?

SUNDAY, APRIL 8 @ 2 PM [EVENT]
Powell’s City of Books (1005 W. Burnside)

Rodney Koeneke, Sandra Simonds & Megan Levad
A trio of poets celebrate National Poetry Month with readings from their latest collections: Rodney Koeneke with Body & Glass, Sandra Simonds with Orlando, and Megan Levad with What Have I to Say to You.