Aaron Poochigian

The Sanctuary

Not Atoms

When, strolling through the Village, I discover

one lonesome shoe, a jeweled but dogless collar,

the crushed rose of a hitman or a lover,

barf like an offering, a half-burnt dollar,

“Scream” masks holding traffic-light-top vigil,

loose lab rats among the morning glories

or Elmo trapped inside a witch’s sigil,

I love the universe because it’s made of stories.

Often what has happened or been done

around here cries out in assorted sirens.

This park, though, stands apart from those environs

for now: it wears the crime-scene shrine of one

whose skateboard didn’t get to take him home.

Here pooled the spray-paint tears of loving vandals.

And now, through crimson glass, a mass of candles

is multiplying pity in the gloam.

Aaron Poochigian  earned a PhD in Classics from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University. His latest poetry collection, American Divine, the winner of the Richard Wilbur Award, came out in 2021. He has published numerous translations with Penguin Classics and W.W. Norton. His work has appeared in such publications as Best American Poetry, The Paris Review, and POETRY.