from “Little Million Doors”
CHAD SWEENEY
I was murdered I was Stillborn I died old
I tried on these robes in
Light reposed over patterns Of water
Surrounded then traced All futures brimmed
Under grapevines The wind a flower I relived
My death Or someone’s
Here Language opens at the wound
Chad Sweeney is the author of six books of poetry, including Little Million Doors (Nightboat Books, 2019), White Martini of the Apocalypse (Marick) and Parable of Hide and Seek (Alice James), and two books of translation (from Farsi and Spanish), as well as two edited editions of poetry and prose. Sweeney’s poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, American Poetry Review, The Writer’s Almanac and elsewhere. He is an associate professor of English/creative writing at California State University San Bernardino and lives with his partner, poet Jennifer K. Sweeney, and their two energetic boys.