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  • The American Poetry Review

    TWO POEMS

    Mar 01, 2019 1 minute
    STEPHEN DUNN

    A Good Life

    Of course sadness, regret, even cruelty.Of course the failures and the almosts.It seems that time will undo everything,though it’s possible to be magnificent, too,for days, even longer.What can I do but risk the lifethat flirts with fully being a life?I haven’t murdered anyone yet,but have a list. I’m hoping my angerwill be offset by defiance.If I’m honest I need to rememberto remember to be generous. The greatundo-er, however, has patience on its side,can out-wait a fire in the forest.The winning shot I made as a boyhas already slid into the reductions of memory.I’ll never be the same hero, and my teammatesnever again as joyous as I want them to be.And when it comes to her, my great love,and our early sense of ecstasy, time willlikely be relaxing on the bed with us,working the remote, choosing a comedy.

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