the makings of
let there be no mistake, we are
bejeweled by the stars, by their
stardust and radiance, atom by atom
being sold short is of our own making,
not theirs, as we all climb the tree of life,
branch by branch, its illusory permanence
inspires us all, even with its shakiness,
its faux green aura that we seek
to repair because inside we, like it or not,
are the anointed ones who are star-baptized
and capable of truth-gathering about this
shimmering, breakout world
Surprises through dark blue shadows
Impatience in Godot-like times
Is epidemic and maddening,
Fodder for wild gesticulations,
Lends itself to the violence
Of the spirit, and will sell us short
On our humanity if we let it. We must
Never let go of the glow to be found
Around the corner …
Stephen Anderson
Stephen Anderson is a Milwaukee poet
and translator whose work has appeared in Southwest Review, Verse Wisconsin,
Foundling Review, Twist In Time, Tipton Poetry Journal, New Purlieu Review,
Free Verse, and Latin American Literature Today, Blue Heron
Review, as well as in numerous other print and online journals. Many of his
poems have been featured on the Milwaukee NPR affiliate WUWM Lake Effect
Program. Anderson is the author of three chapbooks, as well as three
full-length collections, In the Garden of Angels and Demons (2017), The
Dream Angel Plays The Cello (2019) and High Wire (2021.) In the
summer of 2013, six of his poems formed the text for a chamber music song cycle
entitled The Privileged Secrets of the Arch performed by some musicians
from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and an opera singer. Anderson’s work is
being archived in the Stephen Anderson Collection in the Special Collections
Section of the Raynor Libraries at Marquette University.