【Kurt Meinicke】
Poets on Kurt MeinickeCouches: Carl Phillips
Poets on Couches
In this series of videograms, poets read and discuss the poems getting them through these strange times—broadcasting straight from their couches to yours. These readings bring intimacy into our spaces of isolation, both through the affinity of poetry and through the warmth of being able to speak to each other across the distances.
“It Is the Rising That I Love”
by Linda Gregg
Issue no. 101 (Winter 1986)
As long as I struggle to float above the ground
and fail, there is reason for this poetry.
On the stone back of the Ludovici throne, Venus
is rising from the water. Her face and arms
are raised, and two women trained in the ways
of the world help her rise, covering her
nakedness with a cloth at the same time.
If this continues, she, goddess of beauty
and love will have accomplished the earth
where I stand. She from water to land,
me from earth to air as if I had a soul.
It is the rising I love, in no matter what
element, to the one above. As I ascend, helped
by prayers and not by women, I say in all my
sexual glamor, see my body bathed in light and air.
See me rise like a flame, like the sun, moon,
stars, birds, wind. In light. In dark.
But I never achieve it. I get down on my knees
this grey April to see if open crocuses have a smell.
I must live in the suffering and desire of what
rises and falls. The terrible blind grinding
of gears against our bodies and lives.
Carl Phillips teaches at Washington University in St. Louis. His most recent book is the poetry collection Pale Colors in a Tall Field. Read his Art of Poetry interview.
Search
Categories
Latest Posts
Watch how an old Venus spacecraft tumbled before crashing to Earth
2025-06-26 07:00Wine, yoga, and few things to buy: The stores of the future
2025-06-26 06:48In the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hurricane Irma "sounded like a chainsaw"
2025-06-26 06:34Dyson V8 Plus cordless vacuum: $120 off at Amazon
2025-06-26 05:12Popular Posts
AMD Radeon RX 550 + Intel Pentium G4560
2025-06-26 07:42'The Shape of Water' review: Guillermo del Toro's merman romance
2025-06-26 06:59No Time for a Negative Peace
2025-06-26 05:55Popular Articles
Robot dog will sniff your feet, and keel over if they stink
2025-06-26 07:13Watch how an old Venus spacecraft tumbled before crashing to Earth
2025-06-26 05:23Newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.
Comments (92897)
Miracle Information Network
This is the fattest of the extremely fat bears
2025-06-26 07:09Evergreen Information Network
Leveling up in 'Destiny 2' can be super confusing, so here's an explainer
2025-06-26 06:40Unobstructed Information Network
The inside story of 'brain' of the iPhone X: the A11 Bionic chip
2025-06-26 06:24Charm Information Network
Donald Trump just slammed Hillary Clinton again but she had the perfect comeback
2025-06-26 05:36Prosperous Times Information Network
Is it 'Thunderbolts*' or *The New Avengers'?
2025-06-26 05:35