Signature
By Bert Meyers
I earn a living
and I have a family
but to tell the truth
I’m a wild olive tree
I like cognac
and a proud Jewish song
I live wherever
I don’t belong
I watch the world decay
on every page on every face
it’s a sick man’s clouded eye
that rolls around in space
And my obsession’s
a line I can’t revise
to be a gardener
in paradise
Notes:
“Signature” was originally published in The Wild Olive Tree (West Coast Poetry Review, 1979) and is reprinted with permission of Daniel Meyers. For more information about Bert Meyers, please visit bertmeyers.com
This poem is part of the portfolio “Bert Meyers: A Gardener in Paradise.” Read the rest of the portfolio in the January 2023 issue of Poetry.
Source: Poetry (January 2023)