MY FAVORITE BOOK

 

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is the one that rustles

when there is no wind,

when the day is still

 

coming into consciousness,

 

when the fine fishbones

of light have not begun

to slide across the floor,

 

its pages slowly turning

 

into something else,

shifting slowly as the shifting

leaves mark seasons, 

 

murmuring about time, 

murmuring out of turn, 

falling into rhythm 

 

with my breath

as the day unfolds 

 

my body into yours

and we hope

for a little more darkness—

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BIO:

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Michael Bazzett is the author of five collections of poetry, including The Echo Chamber (Milkweed Editions, 2021) and Cloudwatcher, winner of the Stern Prize from APR, (Copper Canyon), and forthcoming in early 2026 . His verse translation of the creation epic of the Maya, The Popol Vuh (Milkweed, 2018), named by the NY Times as one of the best poetry books of 2018. He is a recipient of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships in both poetry and translation, and his poems have appeared in Threepenny Review, GRANTA, The Nation, The American Poetry Review, The Paris Review, The London Magazine, Poetry Review, and The Sun.