Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 221, Volume 41 Number 3, January - February 2015.

‘Conversations in Heaven’ and Other Poems J. Kates
Conversations in Heaven I

There is an ivory mansion
Where Whitman and Housman converse,
The scholar’s unswerving attention
Paid to the chattering nurse,
And the exuberant crank from Camden
Following Ludlow’s hearse.



Conversations in Heaven 10

The Amherst lady neatly
undid her ivory dress,
and then the servant Wheatley
conveyed it to the press.

And not a word was spoken
Between the two of them
Except, ‘One hook is broken,’
And ‘Phillis, mind the hem.’
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image