Bill Knott

Bill Knott, regarded as "one of the most original voices in American poetry" [Charles Simic], was born in 1940. His 52-line "Poem Noir" was the inspiration for Denis Johnson's 1996 novel "Already Dead." The following poems are from Knott's "The Season On Our Sleeve: Short Poems 1960-1999."

SLEEP

We brush the other, invisible moon.
Its caves come out and carry us inside.

NAOMI POEM

When our hands are alone,
they open, like faces.
There is no shore
to their opening.

ANCIENT MEASURES

As much as someone could plow in one day
They called an acre;
As much as someone could die in one instant
A lifetime-

GOODBYE

If you are still alive when you read this,
close your eyes. I am
under their lids, growing black.