A Meeting on Waterways

By MARC VINCENZ

It seems all the light of morning
has descended here where it’s usually dark

and frogs raise their heads in the bulrushes,
where the last sounds swarm among the oaks.

Weighing these few scraps, the things you’ve said
you leapt gardens to procure—there are still

more feathers on this side—hard work,
all that feather versus fodder. Tomorrow—

what a difficult word—interrupted and intercepted;
and tomorrow, all that we imagined.

Careful.

The universe has ears.

 

[Purchase Issue 30 here.]

 

Marc Vincenz is a multilingual translator, poet, fiction writer, journalist, editor, musician, and artist. His recent poetry collections include The Pearl Diver of Irunmani, A Splash of Cave Paint, The King of Prussia is Drunk on Stars, Faery Ecology, and (forthcoming in 2026) No More Animal Poems. He translates from the German, Romanian, French, and Spanish.

From the beginning, The Common has brought you transportive writing and exciting new voices. We are committed to supporting writers and maintaining free, unrestricted access to our website, but we can’t do it without you. Become an integral part of our global community of readers and writers by donating today. No amount is too small. Thank you!

A Meeting on Waterways

Related Posts

Sasha Burshteyn: Poems

SASHA BURSHTEYN
The slagheap dominates / the landscape. A new kurgan / for a new age. High grave, waste mound. / To think of life / among the mountains— / that clean, clear air— / and realize that you’ve been breathing / shit. Plant trees / around the spoil tip! Appreciate / the unnatural charm! Green fold, / gray pile.

New York City skyline

Lawrence Joseph: New Poems

JOSEPH LAWRENCE
what we do is // precise and limited, according to / the Minister of Defense, // the President / is drawing a line, // the President is drawing / a red line, we don’t want to see 

rebecca on a dock at sunset

Late Orison

REBECCA FOUST
You & I will grow old, Love, / we have grown old. But this last chance // in our late decades could be like the Pleiades, winter stars seen by / Sappho, Hesiod & Galileo & now by you & me.