Joel Brouwer
COLLEGE DAYS
Yes, the whole enchilada was planned
in advance, including Barrett
doing a handstand in the library.
Now he says he can’t commit. The four
categories I put my feelings in
were days, weeks, months, and years.
Can we go back to your place and see
what there is to eat? Susan walked
sort of like a giant. We assumed someone
must have recorded it. It was a summer night
but it wasn’t a joyful summer night
and before long I’d developed spasms
of the intestines. Even a little bug
is filled with incredible textures.
If you ask me, those people have every right
to come down here, present
their questions, and take all the time
they need. The space between
stars is scary. We have to live with that.
JOEL BROUWER is the author of four books of poems: Exactly What Happened, Centuries, And So, and Off Message. He teaches at the University of Alabama.
ISSUE ELEVEN features poetry by José A. Alcántara, Hadara Bar-Nadav, Monica Berlin, Joel Brouwer, Julia Cohen, Timothy Donnelly, Sean Thomas Dougherty, Robert Fernandez, Nick Flynn, Wendy Guerra, Chelsea Harlan, Brian Henry, Harmony Holiday, David Kirby, Ginger Ko, Virginia Konchan, Joseph O. Legaspi, Shane McCrae, Daniel Poppick, Danniel Schoonebeek, Matthew Tuckner, Genya Turovskaya, and Corey Van Landingham; fiction by Josh Bell, Ed Park, and Tom Quach; nonfiction by Albert Abonado, Mary Quade, Sarah Anne Strickley, and Jennifer Tseng; a film essay by J. M. Tyree; and Harmony Holiday in conversation with Sandra Simonds.