Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Alice Fulton

“Make It New”

“Make It New”

“Make It New”

I find it helpful to imagine writing in a blizzard
            with every inscription

designed to prevent snow
            crystals from drifting in.

Avoid the hive mind. Go fly a kite,
raise a stained glass window in the sky.

It’s the opposite of making love to drudgery,
            what I do for a dying.

      Remove the bitter sediment
trapped in the brewer. It will be new

whether you make it new
or not. It will be full of neo-

shadows. Full of then — both past and next,
iridescent with suspense. Remember

            time is not the treasure revealer.
More a midge larva creeping

through a waterfall releasing
suction feet. The curiosity rover

      lands on Mars! New is a hooligan.
It breaks the reckoning frame and rests

in pieces. Let me collect its DNA
from the tears on your desk.
Close

“Make It New”

I find it helpful to imagine writing in a blizzard
            with every inscription

designed to prevent snow
            crystals from drifting in.

Avoid the hive mind. Go fly a kite,
raise a stained glass window in the sky.

It’s the opposite of making love to drudgery,
            what I do for a dying.

      Remove the bitter sediment
trapped in the brewer. It will be new

whether you make it new
or not. It will be full of neo-

shadows. Full of then — both past and next,
iridescent with suspense. Remember

            time is not the treasure revealer.
More a midge larva creeping

through a waterfall releasing
suction feet. The curiosity rover

      lands on Mars! New is a hooligan.
It breaks the reckoning frame and rests

in pieces. Let me collect its DNA
from the tears on your desk.

“Make It New”

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère