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A literary magazine named after the Vedic god of fire
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Malak Mattar, Untitled (detail), 2024, charcoal on paper

Perennial

Poetry by Bruce Willard

I was tired of wanting,
tired of morning,
tired of the way the ocean waits
for the sun to set.

I was tired of thawing,
tired of spring.
Tired of hoping
bulbs would rise.

And when they did,
I was tired of the longing
sexual smell of the earth,
so expectedly ugly
and eager

that there was nothing
left to want.

Published: | Online 2010

Bruce Willard

Bruce Willard’s poems have appeared in Poet Lore, Harvard Review, AGNI, Cortland Review, Ploughshares, Salamander and 5 A.M. as well as on NPR’s Writer’s Almanac. He has two collections of poems, Holding Ground (2013) and Violent Blues (2016); both published by Four Way Books. His third collection, Bond, is forthcoming. More information is available at www.brucewillard.com. (updated 10/2018)

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