swifts  &  s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings

somewhere in the world
Nicodemus Nicoludis

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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?

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Nicodemus Nicoludis’ debut collection of poetry
MULTICENE
now out from Arteidolia Press

MULTICENE →

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.