Poetry: WHEN THE SKY IS FULL OF DESIRE, THE GODS ARE CLOSE by Maxine Patroni
Greek tragedies will always be grounds for modern exploration, a tradition Maxine Patroni engages beautifully here. A delicate poem that slides its intimacy behind punchy short lines and ghostly women, “When the Sky is Full of Desire, The Gods Are Close” reveals something special and easily forgotten about the past, even ancient: forever we are close to it and it to us.
WHEN THE SKY IS FULL OF DESIRE, THE GODS ARE CLOSE
i.
At the crossroads
I meet a woman—
air of almond—
her hand on my purse,
her hand on my wrist,
her neck a bouquet
of stems
when I finish with her.
At crossroads,
a ghost walks
from her body:
in her eyes,
I see a village
on fire.
I wonder
if we all die knowing
what we wanted
wasn’t worth it.
Turns out,
I love a thief enough
to wrap her
in thornbrush;
when you hold
a dying woman
her ghost
may never leave
your side.
ii.
When a blind prophet says
he saw you do it
it’s okay to be skeptical
at first
but if he says he speaks to the gods
cock your ear a little closer.
iii.
Spry beetles start
with corn
and work their way
to wool flowers
the rosemary and thyme
every empty bowl
chipped tooth
every seed crows
pluck from dirt
all because the man I love
touched me raw
from mother’s belly
the city ruined
because a woman
in the woods
her face familiar
like when river
meets saltwater
when iron
meets blood.
iv.
Mama taught me
what to do
with a needle
how to thread the eye
how to curse heaven
for a pinprick.
Now, only touch.
Smoke can be cloud—
cough, mist—
my bedroom, a foreign place.
If I can’t see it
it can be anything
I want.
Outside my window
the landscape,
weather—
an anonymous blue.
v.
In the hour
I was taken from crib,
I remember seeing the moon,
its shine through branches.
Gazing up
from damp ground,
I thought I saw
a puff of goats’ breath
or gods huddled in the farmlands.
Yes,
it must’ve been the gods—
their questioning whispers:
will a woman
always find
the tragedy
meant for her;
yes,
knowing the answer,
only they could leave
a babe alone
to hunger in the straw.
Maxine Patroni
Maxine Patroni graduated from New York University with an MFA in poetry where she was the Teachers and Writers Fellow. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in The Southern Indiana Review, The Greensboro Review, EcoTheo Review, and Raleigh Review. She works at New York University.
