Summer Poetry Pop-Up: Terence Winch

Romantic Poem                       

I have made an effort to make

poetic language resemble every

day speech. That is what I have

done. I am interested in

the supernatural, though I don't

like being scared. I am also

really focused on the emotions

and on nature. Those elements

are extremely important if

you are trying to write Romantic

poetry, as I am trying to do.

You do know, I hope, that

the world is just a construct,

that we exist only inside our

aging, inebriated minds.

It's pretty depressing and

unfortunate, especially the

way sex too becomes imaginary.

Here in Atlanta, Georgia, we

are busy killing bugs, snakes,

and turtles. We are drinking,

arguing, and singing the state

song, "I'm my own Grandpa."

Eventually we will go to sleep

and thy beauty will seep into

our dreams, and you will be

as naked as a star in a galaxy

floating in a glass of ice water.

—Terence Winch

from This Way Out (Hanging Loose Press, 2014)

Terence Winch is the author of eight poetry collections: The Known Universe [forthcoming, fall 2017], This Way Out, Lit from Below, Falling out of Bed in a Room with No Floor, Boy Drinkers, The Drift of  Things, The Great Indoors [Columbia Book Award winner), and Irish Musicians/American Friends [American Book Award winner]. He has also written two story collections, Contenders and That Special Place: New World Irish Stories, which draws on his experiences as a founding member of the original Celtic Thunder, the acclaimed Irish band. His work is included in more than 40 anthologies, among them the Oxford Book of American Poetry, Poetry 180, and 5 editions of  Best American Poetry, and has been featured on “The Writer’s Almanac” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Winch is the recipient of an NEA Fellowship in poetry and a Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Writing,  among other honors.