Something Has to Happen Next (Iowa Poetry Prize)

1. dear wild abandon,

dear wild abandon, 3

we are not birds 4

explain yourself 5

among the beautiful illusions 6

poem written on the mirror of her skin 7

dear man on fire, 8

tragic figure in a rearview 9

the moon 10

what i know of the moon 11

strip mall 12

birds of paradise 13

before sleep takes us 14

swallows built their nest around it 15

when we were giant 16

again i strike your window in full flight 17

dear artificial heart, 18

pledge of allegiance 19

the face of jesus in my bite bruise 20

laundromat at the end of the world 21

dear special theory of relativity, 22

you can hear it through the cumulative heartbeats 23

you never touched me 24

they molt in hopes of airier plumage 25

dear quark, 26

prove you wrong 27

the end 28

dear catastrophe, 29

2. something has to happen next

rehearsal 33

this or something like it 34

a cyclist passes with a cello on his back 35

lamb 36

the story of my beard 37

other people’s machines 38

winter museum 39

what we know 40

the moments before the crash landing are clearest 41

serendipity 42

safe shower 43

stalactite 44

somewhere a buried bone awaits 45

for the dispossessed 46

in the night of the womb the spirit quickens into flesh 47

coyotes 48

chosen 49

world, 50

levitator’s apprentice 51

man of the year 52

california 53

if nothing else 54

listen 55

i’ll pack a pretty shirt 56