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on the gruesome death of bees, Sonny Rollins's sabbatical, & other incentives for loneliness

by Anthony Thomas Lombardi

in the forest of my final exile
it was loneliness i learned

as darwinian—every storm growling

a kindly greeting,
the black bear scampering

from my body’s bouquet
like he’d been launched

by a nearsighted cannoneer.

the average human can
withstand one thousand

pangs per pound
from bees who dodge

our open hands
to pollinate blooms

we bring beloveds
& produce the air

we breathe. one sting

& the bee will rupture
its abdomen trying

to remove its weapon
heaving out instead

all its vital organs & well
i suppose this is merely

one of the softer risks of joy.

Sonny Rollins once took
sabbatical for two years

between the sky
& the east river

blowing for no one
but the birds

& still found himself
sainted for ghosting

like a living chinese finger trap.

now thousands of people dwell
in the building that bears

his name & stroll
The Bridge he made

famous, blissful as a fist of false pearls

so why can’t i hum
through fields with lavender

in my hair without trampling
at least a few

snakes, without shaking

their rattles in my fists
like hospital bills.

do you hear that?
a zebra finch is dreaming

his songs to life. even in his sleep

he aches for the warmth
of another wing, parsing

pitch & timbre
prudently trimming

what won’t dazzle a mate.

in the morning
melodies charm

even the most unmusical
passerby but sunrise

scares the daylights out of me

so i skulk the bridge
until the sky remembers

there are no mountains
in manhattan, makes the moon

marquee, & bleat an awful tone
a lone blue note

​a breath i didn’t know i was holding.
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Anthony Thomas Lombardi is the author of Murmurations (YesYes Books, 2025), a recipient of the Poetry Project’s Emerge-Surface-Be Fellowship, a multiple Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee, among other accolades. He has taught or continues to teach at Borough of Manhattan Community College, Paris College of Art, Brooklyn Poets, Polyphony Lit’s apprenticeship programs, community programming throughout New York City, and currently serves as a poetry editor for Sundog Lit. His work has appeared or will soon in the Poetry Foundation, Guernica, Black Warrior Review, Narrative Magazine, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two cats.

Instagram:
 @prettytoneywrites

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  • About
  • Submit
  • Past Issues
    • Issue 1
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 6
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 13
    • 2024 Blackout Special Issue
    • Issue 14