Best American Poetry 2017

by David Lehman

  Vievee Francis, “Given to These Proclivities, By God” from Cherry Tree. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Amy Gerstler, “Dead Butterfly” from Fifth Wednesday. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Reginald Gibbons, “Canasta” from Last Lake. © 2016 by Reginald Gibbons. Reprinted by permission of the University of Chicago Press. Also appeared in Ploughshares.

  Margaret Gibson, “Passage” from The Southern Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Aracelis Girmay, “from The Black Maria” from The Black Maria. © 2016 by Aracelis Girmay. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of BOA Editions Ltd. Also appeared in Harvard Review.

  Jeffrey Harrison, “Higher Education” from The Yale Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Terrance Hayes, “Ars Poetica with Bacon” from The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  W. J. Herbert, “Mounting the Dove Box” from Southwest Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Tony Hoagland, “Cause of Death: Fox News” from The Sun. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  John Hodgen, “Hamlet Texts Guildenstern about Playing upon the Pipe” from The Antioch Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  David Brendan Hopes, “Certain Things” from New Ohio Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Major Jackson, “The Flâneur Tends a Well-Liked Summer Cocktail” from Virginia Quarterly Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  John James, “History (n.)” from The Kenyon Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Rodney Jones, “Homecoming” from Village Prodigies. © 2016 by Rodney Jones. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Also appeared in The Kenyon Review.

  Fady Joudah, “Progress Notes” from The Kenyon Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Meg Kearney, “Grackle” from The Massachusetts Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  John Koethe, “The Age of Anxiety” from The Swimmer. © 2016 by John Koethe. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Also appeared in Raritan.

  Yusef Komunyakaa, “from The Last Bohemian of Avenue A” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Danusha Laméris, “The Watch” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Dorianne Laux, “Lapse” from Plume. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Philip Levine, “Rain in Winter” from The Threepenny Review. Reprinted by permission of the estate of Philip Levine.

  Amit Majmudar, “Kill List” from The Nation. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Jamaal May, “Things That Break” from The Big Book of Exit Strategies. © 2016 by Jamaal May. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Alice James Books. Also appeared in Ploughshares.

  Judson Mitcham, “White” from Cave Wall. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  John Murillo, “Upon Reading That Eric Dolphy Transcribed Even the Calls of Certain Species of Birds,” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Joyce Carol Oates, “To Marlon Brando in Hell” from Salmagundi. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Sharon Olds, “Ode to the Glans” from Odes. © 2016 by Sharon Olds. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf. Also appeared in Ploughshares.

  Matthew Olzmann, “Letter Beginning with Two Lines by Czesław Miłosz” from the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Gregory Orr, “Three Dark Proverb Sonnets” from Mississippi Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Carl Phillips, “Rockabye” from Callaloo. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Rowan Ricardo Phillips, “Halo” from The American Scholar. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Robert Pinsky, “Names” from Salmagundi. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Stanley Plumly, “Poliomyelitis” from Ploughshares. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Paisley Rekdal, “Assemblage of Ruined Plane Parts, Vietnam Military Museum, Hanoi” from The Kenyon Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Michael Ryan, “The Mercy Home” from The Kenyon Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  David St. John, “Emanations” from The Southern Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Sherod Santos, “I Went for a Walk in Winter” from Harvard Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Taije Silverman, “Where to Put It” from The Georgia Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Charles Simic, “Seeing Things” from The Threepenny Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Danez Smith, “last summer of innocence” from Prairie Schooner. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Maggie Smith, “Good Bones” from Weep Up. © 2016 by Maggie Smith. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Tupelo Press. Also appeared in Waxwing.

  R. T. Smith, “Maricón” from Prairie Schooner. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  A. E. Stallings, “Shattered” from Harvard Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Pamela Sutton, “Afraid to Pray” from Prairie Schooner. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Chase Twichell, “Sad Song” from Salmagundi. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  James Valvis, “Something” from The Sun. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Emily Van Kley, “Dear Skull” from The Georgia Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Wendy Videlock, “Deconstruction” from The Hopkins Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Lucy Wainger, “Scheherazade.” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Crystal Williams, “Double Helix” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Christian Wiman, “Prelude” from The Sewanee Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Monica Youn, “Greenacre” from Blackacre. © 2016 by Monica Youn. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Graywolf Press. Also appeared in New England Review.

  C. Dale Young, “Precatio simplex” from The Collagist. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Dean Young, “Infinitives” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Kevin Young, “Money Road” from The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Matthew Zapruder, “Poem for Vows” from the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  ABOUT THE EDITORS

  * * *

  NATASHA TRETHEWEY served two terms as the nineteenth Poet Laureate of the United States (2012–2014) and a term as Poet Laureate of the state of Mississippi in 2012. She is the author of four collections of poetry: Domestic Work, Bellocq’s Ophelia, Native Guard, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007, and Thrall. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has also received fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

  DAVID LEHMAN, the series editor of The Best American Poetry, is also the editor of The Oxford Book of American Poetry. His books of poetry include Poems in the Manner Of, New and Selected Poems, Yeshiva Boys, When a Woman Loves a Man, and The Daily Mirror. His most recent nonfiction book is Sinatra’s Century. He teaches at the New School and lives in New York City and Ithaca, New York.

  Visit the Best American Poetry website at

  www.bestamericanpoetry.com

  MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT

  SimonandSchuster.com

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Natasha-Trethewey

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/David-Lehman

  OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES

  John Ashbery, editor, The Best American Poetry 1988

  Donald Hall, editor, The Best American Poetry 198
9

  Jorie Graham, editor, The Best American Poetry 1990

  Mark Strand, editor, The Best American Poetry 1991

  Charles Simic, editor, The Best American Poetry 1992

  Louise Glück, editor, The Best American Poetry 1993

  A. R. Ammons, editor, The Best American Poetry 1994

  Richard Howard, editor, The Best American Poetry 1995

  Adrienne Rich, editor, The Best American Poetry 1996

  James Tate, editor, The Best American Poetry 1997

  Harold Bloom, editor, The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988–1997

  John Hollander, editor, The Best American Poetry 1998

  Robert Bly, editor, The Best American Poetry 1999

  Rita Dove, editor, The Best American Poetry 2000

  Robert Hass, editor, The Best American Poetry 2001

  Robert Creeley, editor, The Best American Poetry 2002

  Yusef Komunyakaa, editor, The Best American Poetry 2003

  Lyn Hejinian, editor, The Best American Poetry 2004

  Paul Muldoon, editor, The Best American Poetry 2005

  Billy Collins, editor, The Best American Poetry 2006

  Heather McHugh, editor, The Best American Poetry 2007

  Charles Wright, editor, The Best American Poetry 2008

  David Wagoner, editor, The Best American Poetry 2009

  Amy Gerstler, editor, The Best American Poetry 2010

  Kevin Young, editor, The Best American Poetry 2011

  Mark Doty, editor, The Best American Poetry 2012

  Robert Pinsky, editor, The Best of the Best American Poetry: 25th Anniversary Edition

  Denise Duhamel, editor, The Best American Poetry 2013

  Terrance Hayes, editor, The Best American Poetry 2014

  Sherman Alexie, editor, The Best American Poetry 2015

  Edward Hirsch, editor, The Best American Poetry 2016

  We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.

  * * *

  Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.

  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

  Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.

  Scribner Poetry

  An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by David Lehman

  Foreword copyright © 2017 by David Lehman

  Introduction copyright © 2017 by Natasha Trethewey

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  First Scribner edition September 2017

  SCRIBNER POETRY and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Jacket design by Jaya Miceli

  Jacket art: David’s Chair, 2015, by Anna Cypra Oliver, courtesy of Anna Cypra Oliver

  Library of Congress Control Number: 88644281

  ISBN 978-1-5011-2763-2

  ISBN 978-1-5011-2775-5 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-5011-2777-9 (ebook)