Michael Bazzett
The Drowned Boy
I saw straps of weed
ribboned beneath the waves.
It did not make me think
of mermaid hair
or streamers made of silk
but a broken bridle
I once saw slip the muzzle
of a crazed mare, then
the cold gush
packed me full.
Michael Bazzett is the author of four books of poetry, most recently The Echo Chamber (Milkweed, 2021). His work has appeared in Granta, The Threepenny Review, The Sun, The Nation, The Paris Review and Ploughshares, and his verse translation of the Mayan creation epic, The Popol Vuh, (Milkweed, 2018) was named one of 2018’s best books of poetry by the NY Times. He lives in Minneapolis.
Return to September 2022 Edition
I saw straps of weed
ribboned beneath the waves.
It did not make me think
of mermaid hair
or streamers made of silk
but a broken bridle
I once saw slip the muzzle
of a crazed mare, then
the cold gush
packed me full.
Michael Bazzett is the author of four books of poetry, most recently The Echo Chamber (Milkweed, 2021). His work has appeared in Granta, The Threepenny Review, The Sun, The Nation, The Paris Review and Ploughshares, and his verse translation of the Mayan creation epic, The Popol Vuh, (Milkweed, 2018) was named one of 2018’s best books of poetry by the NY Times. He lives in Minneapolis.
Return to September 2022 Edition