Feb 28, 2012 | Gus Stevens, Quatrains, Rhymed Couplets, Sinner's Psalms vol. 1
You are in me like an absence, a void, one that could be filled with all the wanted things— an emptiness made of what I’ve not enjoyed. My bird wears none so fine a set of wings. The woman is not ill-dressed, but if only she would display her treasures on the...
Feb 20, 2012 | Gus Stevens, Sonnet, Victorian Sonnet
God, our only witness, takes delight And whispers, “Lovers, drink deep your fill, For I made this both wholesome and right; The pleasures are mine which overspill Into your bed. Listen and grow wise: Married love is pleasing in my sight, And what I call good do not...
Jan 16, 2012 | Grief, Gus Stevens, Quatrains, Songs for the Dead
Goodnight my friend. Goodnight sweet Carines. When I heard, I did not want to believe; if it were true, the earth would be made less, made ugly, cruel; a pain without reprieve. But the mourning world wages quiet war; against death, our ever-enemy, we crusade as the...
Jan 10, 2012 | Bible Story, Gus Stevens, Hymn, Luke Schreiber, Song
I envy the broad swath of humanity that is able to clap and sing at the same time. Either activity I can perform adequately, provided I am only responsible for one at a time. But the moment I attempt to peel off a chunk of my singing brain in order to direct it toward...
Dec 30, 2011 | Erotic, Gus Stevens, Quatrains, Regret, Sinner's Psalms vol. 1
We agonize like enemies, like spies, before the King’s abundant table spread; we’d consume each other, but only chew instead. The glimmering creatures are full of lies. We tongue the scraps and bones but cannot feed and though we do not drink, our lips are...
Dec 11, 2011 | Bible Story, Gus Stevens, Sonnet, The Unspeakable Name vol. 1, Victorian Sonnet
The mistreated Earth in her heartache sings love songs to Life but shares her bed with Grave. Hers is a marriage of our making; our hands pressed her to become another’s slave just as Michal, the daughter of King Saul, was given once by will and once by force,...
