Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Four poems by Kay Ryan on her birthday

The Edges of Time, Nothing Ventured, Miser Time, Paired Things

The Edges of Time

It is at the edges 

that time 

thins. 

Time which had been 

dense and viscous 

as amber suspending 

intentions like bees 

unseizes them. A 

humming begins, 

apparently 

coming 

from stacks of 

put-off things or 

just in back. A 

racket 

of claims now, 

as time flattens. A 

glittering fan of things 

competing to happen, 

brilliant and urgent 

as fish when seas 

retreat.


Nothing Ventured

Nothing exists as a block 

and cannot be parceled up. 

So if nothing’s ventured 

it’s not just talk; 

it’s the big wager. 

Don’t you wonder 

how people think 

the banks of space 

and time don’t matter? 

How they’ll drain 

the big tanks down to 

slime and salamanders 

and want thanks?

Sponsored
Sponsored


Miser Time

Miser time grows 

profligate near the 

end: unpinching 

and unplanning, 

abandoning the 

whole idea of 

savings. It’s hard 

to understand 

but time apparently 

expands with its 

diminishing. The 

door thrown wide 

on sliding hills of high- 

denomination bills and 

nothing much to buy.


Paired Things

Who, who had only seen wings, 

could extrapolate the 

skinny sticks of things 

birds use for land, 

the backward way they bend, 

the silly way they stand? 

And who, only studying 

birdtracks in the sand, 

could think those little forks 

had decamped on the wind? 

So many paired things seem odd. 

Who ever would have dreamed 

the broad winged raven of despair 

would quit the air and go 

bandylegged upon the ground, 

a common crow?


Kay Ryan

Kay Ryan is an American poet and the 16th poet laureate of the United States. She first began publishing poems in 1983, but only in the mid-1990s did her work receive serious recognition, after her poems began to appear in anthologies and national reviews published critical reviews of her work. Her reception of the prestigious Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize in 2004 marked her entrance into the short list of excellent poets writing in English. Her poems are noted for their terse, concise and deeply metaphysical observations—often tweaking logic and cliches with unexpected and witty results. She has been compared favorably in both style and substance to Emily Dickinson and Marianne Moore. She celebrated her 78th birthday on September 21.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Roll-over crashes crop up in San Diego and Baja

Nails, beer, Coca-Cola, Mexican pop singer Luis Miguel's stage equipment

The Edges of Time

It is at the edges 

that time 

thins. 

Time which had been 

dense and viscous 

as amber suspending 

intentions like bees 

unseizes them. A 

humming begins, 

apparently 

coming 

from stacks of 

put-off things or 

just in back. A 

racket 

of claims now, 

as time flattens. A 

glittering fan of things 

competing to happen, 

brilliant and urgent 

as fish when seas 

retreat.


Nothing Ventured

Nothing exists as a block 

and cannot be parceled up. 

So if nothing’s ventured 

it’s not just talk; 

it’s the big wager. 

Don’t you wonder 

how people think 

the banks of space 

and time don’t matter? 

How they’ll drain 

the big tanks down to 

slime and salamanders 

and want thanks?

Sponsored
Sponsored


Miser Time

Miser time grows 

profligate near the 

end: unpinching 

and unplanning, 

abandoning the 

whole idea of 

savings. It’s hard 

to understand 

but time apparently 

expands with its 

diminishing. The 

door thrown wide 

on sliding hills of high- 

denomination bills and 

nothing much to buy.


Paired Things

Who, who had only seen wings, 

could extrapolate the 

skinny sticks of things 

birds use for land, 

the backward way they bend, 

the silly way they stand? 

And who, only studying 

birdtracks in the sand, 

could think those little forks 

had decamped on the wind? 

So many paired things seem odd. 

Who ever would have dreamed 

the broad winged raven of despair 

would quit the air and go 

bandylegged upon the ground, 

a common crow?


Kay Ryan

Kay Ryan is an American poet and the 16th poet laureate of the United States. She first began publishing poems in 1983, but only in the mid-1990s did her work receive serious recognition, after her poems began to appear in anthologies and national reviews published critical reviews of her work. Her reception of the prestigious Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize in 2004 marked her entrance into the short list of excellent poets writing in English. Her poems are noted for their terse, concise and deeply metaphysical observations—often tweaking logic and cliches with unexpected and witty results. She has been compared favorably in both style and substance to Emily Dickinson and Marianne Moore. She celebrated her 78th birthday on September 21.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why Paul Mitchell the School San Diego is the Top Choice for Future Beauty Pros

Next Article

Gonzo Report: Ben Folds takes requests via paper airplane at UCSD

A bunch of folks brought theirs from home
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader