swifts & s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings
somewhere in the world
Nicodemus Nicoludis
← back or next →
All I want
is boundless Earth // I am the least // difficult man // in
that way // Lying prostrated // the grasses are // talking //
to me again explaining // the cycle of food // the history
of guano // mines in South America // the commodification //
of shit
The sky is vague
Blue like the wing // of a seagull stroked // at a great
distance // so in squinting // I am still trying // to
understand // the humility // that comes with touch // just
this simple expression // of green of leaves etc
Everywhere // the pastoral // easily beautiful // but
nowhere is the pasture // Until I fall to the Earth
// I will not move
after Frank O’Hara
Checking for rain
in the morning from bed
looking slowly from the curtains
to the street at the garbage truck
The men in orange and neon yellow
heaving bags into the mouth of the truck
as it wails and cries And I am
here thinking about the flooding
in Karachi The worst ever
recorded in history — 134 dead
The water is still rising
around stores and apartments
My dad called me yesterday
to tell me that oil stocks
are rising again so I
make the motoring of cars
in the street the symbolic
center of this universe
My memory of the bay
I sat by watching boats
In and out under the bridge
Blue and white the ice
formed on the river
Remember snow?
The exhaustion of winter?
I am no longer surprised
by the places // we have // or will // have destroyed // by
tomorrow // morning
Time or // the future // works that way
Even now // as you // read this // somewhere // in the
world // something // is dying
How do you feel // about that?
← back or next →
Nicodemus Nicoludis’ debut collection of poetry
MULTICENE
now out from Arteidolia Press
Nicodemus Nicoludis is a poet, writer, and PhD student at the CUNY Graduate Center studying 20th century American poetry and ecocriticism. He is co-founder and managing editor of Archway Editions, a literary imprint of powerHouse Books. He has been awarded the David A. Bickimer Promise of Learnings Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets and scholarships to the Slice Literary Writers Conference and the Palm Beach Poetry Festival. His work has appeared in The Poetry Project Newsletter, Nat Brut, Small Orange Poetry Journal, the anthology Works & Days 2 published by beautiful days press, and elsewhere.