A Poem for a Thursday #185

The other day at work we were talking about where we would live if money, jobs, and family connections were not a consideration. I said I would like to have two homes. That sounds extravagant but both homes would be small. I want a small home in the country on the edge of a meadow with woods and a brook nearby. I also want an apartment in a city in the U.K. When life gets to be too much for me in one location I can switch to the other. Two very different lives in two very different locations. Today’s poet understands that desire.

Gerald Locklin was an American poet, a professor, and the poetry editor of Chiron Review. He published about 150 books and thousands of poems. Many were translated and read around the world. He died last year from Covid.

(for edward field)

i envy those
who live in two places:
new york, say, and london;
wales and spain;
l.a. and paris;
hawaii and switzerland.

there is always the anticipation
of the change, the chance that what is wrong
is the result of where you are. i have
always loved both the freshness of
arriving and the relief of leaving. with
two homes every move would be a homecoming.
i am not even considering the weather, hot
or cold, dry or wet: i am talking about hope.

where we are
Gerald Locklin