James Greene is the author of a collection of poems, Dead-Man’s Fall, and a translator of the poetry of Mandelstam, Fet and Olav Hauge.
At the seaside dazed by the sun And its tremendous symphony, Strangers are friends. Families Under the cliffs uncover navels, Amorous bumps, far-fetched clefts; And the kids squeal with terror, Their ball kidnapped by a wave.
If only at the graveside we could Ungrit our teeth, weeping buckets, Our family might feel Less estranged: drunk on grief And memories of a great-aunt And her long black...
Men in white on ladders Scale the walls, then pose on planks, Staring straight ahead as if they’re peeing; All afternoon hands juggle.
Then, bottoms bulging out of overalls, descend, To admire their dizzy handiwork. No wonder Hitler gave this up For something more dazzling:
Blond clowns parade or somersault like tanks, Brown flags and bunting flap like bandages, To make the grown-up...
J.-B. Pontalis is a Parisian intellectual de pur sang. Born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family, he was brought up in Neuilly, and, as a child, spent long summers at a family house in...
The Bronze Horseman of Pushkin’s famous poem is Falconet’s equestrian statue of Peter the Great in St Petersburg. It was ordered by Catherine the Great (Petro primo Catharina...
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