Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Alice Notley

Are Loyal

Are Loyal

Are Loyal

Okay part of it’s
here. See it,

I want you to see my brother, dead smiling
in a red short-sleeved shirt,
                                               You look so much better
I got through.
                        How does time work for you?
I can see where – when – I felt bad.
Goes past. I’m not in it any more
But this change hasn’t happened in time – a kind of
before and after but no . . . continuum.
You look brilliant! I
never let you down – he says – did I?
It wasn’t possible,         Why not?
Sisters and brothers are loyal,

we are the primal particles.
I saw how we connected to make a shape
in the eyes of the beholder who chose it: But we
are not that. What I see is free to change its outline.
My story: the shadow of one. Why did I
shrink into a story? It’s easier to talk
as a person, but why? I guess we decided to, talking.
Coyote throws the stars up into the sky.
Close

Are Loyal

Okay part of it’s
here. See it,

I want you to see my brother, dead smiling
in a red short-sleeved shirt,
                                               You look so much better
I got through.
                        How does time work for you?
I can see where – when – I felt bad.
Goes past. I’m not in it any more
But this change hasn’t happened in time – a kind of
before and after but no . . . continuum.
You look brilliant! I
never let you down – he says – did I?
It wasn’t possible,         Why not?
Sisters and brothers are loyal,

we are the primal particles.
I saw how we connected to make a shape
in the eyes of the beholder who chose it: But we
are not that. What I see is free to change its outline.
My story: the shadow of one. Why did I
shrink into a story? It’s easier to talk
as a person, but why? I guess we decided to, talking.
Coyote throws the stars up into the sky.

Are Loyal

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère