Three Poems by Noah Eli Gordon

Poetry: Noah Eli Gordon

After Words

There were

Those who

Were there

And then

There were

Those who

Made there

Their own

In Praise of the Passive Voice

Leisure
To enjoy the sound
And dimension
Of rainfall

Rather than being
Rushed

To the conclusion

Regardless
of how concise
It may be

As the rain

Is falling
That the rain falls

Is what I
Your humble subject
Is precisely

Pitter-patter

What I want

Shorty at the Door

The little girl wanted one more story. Just a shorty at the door, she begged of her father. Once upon a time, the father dutifully began, there was a shorty at the door, who, being so short, was unable to reach the doorknob; then a longy came along, giving the shorty some of its length, so the shorty was able to reach the doorknob, open the door, and climb into bed.

Noah Eli Gordon lives in Denver and teaches in the MFA Program at CU–Boulder, where he currently directs Subito Press. His books include The Word Kingdom in the Word Kingdom (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2015) and Novel Pictorial Noise (Harper Perennial, 2007), which was selected by John Ashbery for the National Poetry Series and subsequently chosen for the San Francisco State Poetry Center Book Award.

Image: bringmethenews.com

Check out HFR’s book catalog, publicity list, submission manager, and buy merch from our Spring store. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.