Immediate Song. Don Bogen

      IMMEDIATE SONG

      ALSO BY DON BOGEN

      Poetry

       An Algebra

       Luster

       The Known World

       After the Splendid Display

      Translation

       Europa: Selected Poems of Julio Martínez Mesanza

      Criticism

       A Necessary Order: Theodore Roethke and the Writing Process

      IMMEDIATE SONG

      Poems

      DON BOGEN

      MILKWEED EDITIONS

      © 2019, Text by Don Bogen

      All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher: Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.

      [phone]

       milkweed.org

      Published 2019 by Milkweed Editions

      Printed in the United States of America

      Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker

      Cover illustration: The Rand-McNally New Commercial Atlas Map of Cincinnati and Environs, Cincinnati, 1912

      Author photo by Claudia Monpere

      19 20 21 22 23 5 4 3 2 1

       First Edition

      Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Ballard Spahr Foundation; the Jerome Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Also, this activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from Wells Fargo. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit milkweed.org.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Bogen, Don, author.

      Title: Immediate song : poems / Don Bogen.

      Description: First edition. | Minneapolis, Minnesota : Milkweed Editions, 2019.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2018032685 (print) | LCCN 2018035247 (ebook) | ISBN 9781571319449 (ebook) | ISBN 9781571314819 (pbk. : alk. paper)

      Classification: LCC PS3552.O4337 (ebook) | LCC PS3552. O4337 A6 2019 (print) | DDC 811/.54--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018032685

      Milkweed Editions is committed to ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book production practices with this principle, and to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. We are a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the world’s endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Immediate Song was printed on acid-free 30% postconsumer-waste paper by Versa Press.

       For Ted, Anna, Garrett, and Sam

       In memory of Cathryn

      CONTENTS

       I

       On Hospitals

       II

       Return Song

       Care Song

       House

       Mailbox

       Smart Song

       Lake Song

       Desks

       Flowers in a Vase

       III

       A Citizen

       A Notebook

       In the Rain

       Street, Window

       Our Mutual Friend

       Dance

       Diamond Song

       Promise Song

       IV

       After Some Years

       Elegies

       Archaeology of 1956

       Window Song

       Moving Song

       Soft Song

       The Ice Rink

       V

       Magpies

       Sick Song