January 2016
When I joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, I was only planning on staying a few years. That was over fifteen years ago. In fact, the sentiment “that wasn’t what I expected to happen” is probably at the core of most of my work. I’ve published five collections of poetry with Press 53, most recently This Miraculous Turning. Every New Year’s Eve I resolve to improve my guitar playing and learn how to cook more interesting dishes; the fact that each year I genuinely believe this will happen reveals a fundamentally optimistic nature. My website: www.josephrobertmills.com
Nouveau
Moving from the couch towards the bed
they knock over a glass and splash wine
onto the rug, their discarded clothes, the wall.
Should this happen in years to come,
they might disentangle, turn on the lights,
and search for towels and salt to clean up.
They might be more confident then
they have time to savor a passion
that has matured with age, but now,
now they barely notice the spill, drunk
as they are on the exhilarating newness,
the sharp pleasure of this fresh pressing.
(from Angels, Thieves, and Winemakers 2nd Edition)
©2016 Joseph Mills