Sonnet to You
by Noelle Kocot
Milkiness of sunrise, where’s the traction, eh?
You were “left behind,” you were a tomato. I
Go along, entrenched in the brilliant darkness,
The grotesque floor underneath my feet. It’s
A familiar kind of happiness, intractable or
Ruined in the cold rain. The C.D finishes again,
And I know I only live like a stray dog among
Rocks and weeds. The years go on howling,
And the sea, empty and green, can no longer
Make us eat the wilderness. I’m tired of these
Landscapes, honey. It’s all been really subtractive,
And this purity of mind now translates into fellow-
Ship. A giant wrecking ball stands at attention,
While the song on the ship goes down, and
We are anything but black tar and great loss.
Noelle Kocot is the author of six books of poetry, most recently, Soul in Space(Wave Books, 2013). She has also translated a book of poetry by the French poet, Tristan Corbiere, called Poet by Default. She’s won numerous awards for her writing, including those from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Fund for Poetry, The Academy of American Poets, The Lannan Foundation and The American Poetry Review. Her work has been widely anthologized, including in Best American Poetry 2001, 2012 and 2013 and Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology. So far, her work is being read and taught in at least 15 different countries. Originally from Brooklyn, she now lives in New Jersey and teaches writing in New York, including at The New School.
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