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Formless Stanza

by Stephen Berg

Idiots call it death

Calm permanent bright as it is

Lunatics call it annihilation

Think of it as not doing a thing

Any idea of what it is is wrong

Fake names invented to help you talk

Only people whose minds are where they are

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Poem of the WeekStephen  Berg

Stephen Berg is the author of numerous collections of poetry and translations and has been awarded the Frank O’Hara Memorial Prize, a Columbia University Translation Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Pew, Rockefeller, and Dietrich Foundations, as well as from the National Endowment for the Arts. Berg has taught at Princeton and Haverford and is currently a professor of humanities at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Poems of the Week: 2008–2009

Poems of the Week: 2008–2009


Reader Comments

  • Brilliant! I will meditate on this for a long time. How...
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