Elaine Equi
Summer 2024 | Poetry
Two Poems
Never Have I Ever
for David Trinidad
Never have I ever
seen such a pink sky
like the tonsils and gums
of a hippo
yawning as we ride
over the bridge
where a sugar factory
sweetens the river
and tall buildings melt
into the water.
Lorca’s Guitar
I saw it on display,
the case lined with red velvet,
like part of his body – his voice –
or the companion of his voice
laid out in an open casket
sealed within a glass box.
It was a small instrument,
almost a ukulele,
this skiff that carried him
across the lake of deep song.
I stood before it, listened,
and heard nothing.
No “wind in the olive trees,
wind in the mountains.”
I thought it looked homesick, as the poet
himself had been homesick in New York.
I hope there is a museum guard,
some shy boy,
who comes when no one is around
and plays it.
Elaine Equi is the author of many books including Voice-Over, which won the San Francisco State Poetry Award; Ripple Effect: New and Selected Poems; and most recently, The Intangibles. A new collection, Out of the Blank, is forthcoming from Coffee House Press. In 2023, she was the guest editor of the annual anthology, Best American Poetry.