"Thirsting" by Alicia Ostriker

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend April 20, 2018   Thirsting   Alicia Ostriker

It's not that the old are wise But that we thirst for the wisdom   we had at twenty when we understood everything   when our brains bubbled with tingling insights   percolating up from our brilliant genitals   when our music rang like a global siege shooting down all the lies in the world   oh then we knew the truth then we sparkled like mica in granite   and now we stand on the shore of an ocean that rises and rises   but is too salt to drink                Copyright © 2018 Alicia Ostriker. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "The thirsting described in this poem comes from the experience of aging. With age comes physical depletion but also, at times, mental and spiritual depletion. When we were young we thought we could change the world; we were self-confident to the point of arrogance. And now, even if we know that self-confidence was illusory, we still yearn for it—and the world still needs changing." —Alicia Ostriker   Alicia Ostriker's most recent book is Waiting for the Light (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017). She lives in New York City and teaches in the Drew University low-residency MFA program in poetry and poetry in translation. Poetry by Ostriker   Waiting for the Light (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017) "The Gardener" by Patricia Hooper "Self-Portrait in the Bathroom Mirror" by Mary Jo Bang "A Face, a Cup" by Molly Peacock April Guest Editor: Tracy K. Smith   Thanks to Tracy K. Smith, current United States poet laureate and author of Wade in the Water (Graywolf Press, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day this month. Read more about Smith and our guest editors for the year. Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

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