Three Poems Written in Pencil on Hotel Memo Paper by Lola Haskins

1. Turquoise 

 

The sky loved the bay so much 

he melted into her. 

Beside such devotion we, 

with all our pride, are less than ants. 

 

 

2. Ocean Drive, Miami 

 

The hotel fronts pretend to be cake. 

Look out! 

Los niños are banging their spoons on the table. 

 

 

3. A Generation 

 

The piece of paper we were given 

is too small. Still, up and down 

the rows we bend our heads, 

and a silence falls over us as 

along a street where one by one 

the house lights are going out.

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Lola Haskins’ 14th book is How Small, Confronting Morning (Jacar Press, 2016). She is currently serving a four year term as Honorary Chancellor of the Florida State Poets Association. Other honors include the Iowa Poetry Prize, two NEAs, two Florida Book Awards, four Florida state arts fellowships, and the Emily Dickinson prize from the Poetry Society of America. For more information, please visit her at www.lolahaskins.com.