Poem from Slate: “Distant Wants”

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Good morning, blog readers! This week’s featured poem from Slate is entitled Distant Wants and it’s written by Jeffrey Skinner. As always, Slate offers you guys an audio version of the poem, which is made more special by the fact that poem is read by its author. I highly recommend checking it out, it’s always awesome to hear a poem read by its author. Add a little poetry to your day!

According to his website, Jeffrey Skinner has published five collections of poetry: Late Stars, A Guide to Forgetting, The Company of Heaven, Gender Studies, and Salt Water Amnesia, his most recent, published in 2005 by Ausable Press. His poems have appeared in numerous publications, such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation, and The American Poetry Review. He has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, McDowell, and the Fine Arts Center in Provincetown. His work has been featured numerous times on National Public Radio and is co-founder and editorial consultant for Sarabande Books.

Distant Wants, by Jeffrey Skinner

I’d like to save up nonsexual thoughts
I’d like a quiver of thoughts
I’d like some extra hot sauce, please
I’d like the drama to come to a musical end

I’d like a tad more Manhattan
I’d like revenge for something, something!
I’d like flowers for the conflagration
I’d like to keep the broken helmet