Why I Thought

ISSUE: Summer 2020

Why I thought I needed to rent a third-floor attic.
Why I thought one mattress on the floor, a desk, a vanity
with a mirror—Why whether from grief,
abundance, freckled blue-black sky,
or soundless rain, humanity’s pain,
endless desire the poem came—

Jill Bialosky

Jill Bialosky is the author of four volumes of poetry, including The Players (Knopf, 2015) and the forthcoming Asylum: A Personal, Historical and Natural Inquiry in 103 Lyric Sections (Knopf, 2020); three novels, House Under Snow (Harcourt, 2002), The Life Room (Harcourt, 2007), and The Prize (Counterpoint, 2015); and two works of prose, History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life (Atria, 2011) and Poetry Will Save Your Life (Atria, 2017) .