At Last the New Arriving
Like the horn you played in Catholic school
the city will open its mouth and cry
out. Don't worry 'bout nothing. Don't mean
no thing. It will leave you stunned
as a fighter with his eyes swelled shut
who's told he won the whole damn purse.
It will feel better than any floor
that's risen up to meet you. It will rise
like Easter bread, golden and familiar
in your grandmother's hands. She'll come back,
heaven having been too far from home
to hold her. O it will be beautiful.
Every girl will ask you to dance and the boys
won't kill you for it. Shake your head.
Dance until your bones clatter. What a prize
you are. What a lucky sack of stars.
Copyright Credit: Gabrielle Calvocoressi, "At Last the New Arriving" from Apocalyptic Swing. Copyright © 2009 by Gabrielle Calvocoressi. Reprinted by permission of Persea Books.
Source: Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation (Viking Press, 2015)