Leslie Williams

Blake

         If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise

in another little puddle years later
leftover rain lingering on an outdoor chair
wrought iron remembering snowmelt
love in which you broke were broken were
instructed had your course
corrected from inland
pinnacles trickled to an elemental creek
treated by trees to I guess you could say
forgiveness starting again among the pines
even faced with careening
whims the mostly drunken
walks alone in starry quiet
fished from deep pockets
of an ugly Woolrich jacket
like a last cigarette there’s folly
for each of us maybe enough
for another whole spring

Leslie Williams is author of three poetry collections, most recently Matters for You Alone (Slant Books, 2024). Honors include the Poetry Society of America’s Robert Winner Memorial Award, an Artist Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Award, and the Bellday Prize. Her poems have appeared in Image, Kenyon Review, Liberties, Poetry, and elsewhere.