Postscript to a 1858 Letter by Gustave Flaubert

 

O, may I be suffused with all the energies of nature

          I have inhaled
                   and may they breathe forth
                             in my book!

 

Powers of artistic emotion, come to my aid!
          Help me resurrect the past!
                   Beauty must guide my pen,
                             but all must be living and true!


Have pity on my purpose,
          O God of all souls!
                   Give me Strength
                             —and Hope!

 

 

Something Roughly M.B. Said

           Max Beckmann in Victor H. Miesel's Voices of German Expressionism

 

 

the
stronger
and
more
profound
my
determination
grows 


to
grasp
the
unutterable
things of
this
world

the
tighter
I
keep
my
mouth
shut 


and
the
harder
I
try
to
capture

 

the
terrible
thrilling
monster 
of
life's
vitality

Bill Yarrowis the author of Pointed Sentences (BlazeVOX, 2012). His poems have appeared in many print and online magazines including PANK, Poetry International, DIAGRAM, and Contrary.

<<