55 Years Later

One day in a Pasadena bookstore, I accidentally

found Of Poetry and Power.

It came out in 1964 and features many of the best

poets in America pondering JFK’s death, including

Robert Frost, John Berryman and W.H. Auden.

“Bulletin” (just twelve lines) is my favorite poem

from this collection.

Here’s a Wikipedia link to the poet who died in

2017 and was only 23 when she wrote it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chana_Bloch

Bulletin

by Chana Faerstein

Is dead. Is dead. How all

The radios sound the same.
That static is our seed.
Is dead. We heard. Again.

We peck at the words like bran

Strung on a string of air.
Is dead. Again. Is dead.
Too rhythmic for despair.

Our faces are all the same,

Learning to taste the word.
Lockjawed with awkwardness.
Is Dead. We know. We heard.