Small Streets
by Tim Suermondt
for Yasi
I too love small streets--
those orphans who don’t want us
to make a fuss over them
but are delighted when a stranger
shows up and walks through,
by choice or chance. Big History
is never there, though the residents
often display a quiet dignity worthy
of long years note. Birds always
hop on the concrete—the scrawny
trees always seem a little naked
even in a state of bloom, and the moon
always looks like you can capture it,
put it in your pocket and pull it out
whenever you swear it’s necessary.
Tim Suermondt is the author of five full-length collections of poems, including the latest, JOSEPHINE BAKER SWIMMING POOL, from MadHat Press, 2019. He has published in Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, The Georgia Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Stand Magazine, december magazine, Galway Review and Plume, among many others. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife, the poet Pui Ying Wong. “Small Streets” was originally published in Ploughshares.
by Tim Suermondt
for Yasi
I too love small streets--
those orphans who don’t want us
to make a fuss over them
but are delighted when a stranger
shows up and walks through,
by choice or chance. Big History
is never there, though the residents
often display a quiet dignity worthy
of long years note. Birds always
hop on the concrete—the scrawny
trees always seem a little naked
even in a state of bloom, and the moon
always looks like you can capture it,
put it in your pocket and pull it out
whenever you swear it’s necessary.
Tim Suermondt is the author of five full-length collections of poems, including the latest, JOSEPHINE BAKER SWIMMING POOL, from MadHat Press, 2019. He has published in Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, The Georgia Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Stand Magazine, december magazine, Galway Review and Plume, among many others. He lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife, the poet Pui Ying Wong. “Small Streets” was originally published in Ploughshares.