Zvi A Sesling
Night Walk
At night I take a walk with
three dead poets whose ghosts
protect me and teach me
The first, Edgar Allen Poe, tells
me to write about my Annabel Lee
since there is nothing better to write
about than one’s true love
Pablo Neruda, on the other hand, says
it is all about metaphor – she might be
the bright star or the clinging vine, the
sturdy tree or the last sunset
Then Walt Whitman places his transparent
arm around me and says quietly to write about
myself, to worship my body and feel close
to nature, the sick, the poor, however, by now
I am home and they have disappeared
Previously appeared in Oddball Magazine
Zvi A. Sesling edits Muddy River Poetry and reviews for Boston Small Press and Poetry Scene. He is author of a full length poetry book, King of the Jungle (Ibbetson Street Press, 2010) and a poetry chapbook Across Stones of Bad Dreams (Cervena Barva Press, 2011). His full-length volume, Fire Tongue, has been accepted for publication by Cervena Barva Press.