Four Poems
Daffodil
If I imagine all time sequestered in the fold of a daffodil,
Close to the desire of sitting next to someone,
It’s like a trip uptown and then one downtown,
And my door is open to the revenge of snow.
Clasp me as a trumpet seeks release,
I should see daydreams in eyes
All aflutter and simplified down,
The stores and all the other places we settle down to.
Pandemic Park Poem
I’ve always wanted to sit on this bench
Now is the perfect temperature and time
Hardly anyone in the park this Thursday evening
The scent of marijuana being smoked
By two gentle souls on a nearby bench
Wafts over, creating a congenial vibe
Two young women huddle together on the grass
Their dinner in a paper bag nearby
They must be sharing something
That can’t be shared by anyone else
Two squirrels chase each other down a slender trunk
In a burst of speed
Are they in love or fighting over food?
There’s a guy shirtless in shorts on his phone
And someone crashed out on the bench next to him
A trio has spread out a blanket, taken off masks
And is beginning to share their dinner
More people coming in, drizzle starting to fall lightly
Two buildings stand out in the distance
Chicago
It is so great to see the shadows of buildings
On the lake
Light from the west peeks through spaces
Between buildings
Striping others between here and the water
Some like Art Deco towers, cozy tower apartments
Illuminated towers, what goes on in those rooms?
Others modernist paradigms
One of the most famous, black in its narrowing
Close enough to touch
Out there, a sailboat earlier,
Now a more stationary craft
And two approaching lines
(One looked like a tower from this angle)
Are two breakwaters, protecting the beach
With a small space between their reaching arms
For a boat to pass within
The Rabbit
for Elaine
Seen her or him or them
Hopping around lately
The hope in fear
In thrill to run
Ear fine-tuned
To danger and excitement
She or he or they
Skip up steps
Run lightning-quick
Across grass to cover
Vincent Katz
Vincent Katz is a poet, translator, and critic. His most recent book is Daffodil, a collection of poems published by Alfred A. Knopf in March, 2025. He is the author of the poetry collections Broadway for Paul, Southness, and Swimming Home, among others, and has collaborated with artists on numerous artist’s books. Katz has published The Complete Elegies of Sextus Propertius, translations of the Roman love poet, and is currently translating the poems of Hesiod. He lives in New York City.
Kathryn Lynch
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Kathryn Lynch received her undergraduate degree from William Smith College in Geneva, NY, and an MFA at the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. She was awarded the NYSCA/NYFA artist Fellow in Painting in 2018. She has been invited to Skowhegan, Yaddo, The Marie Walsh Foundation and The Vermont Studio Center. Since earning her MFA, Lynch has held solo exhibitions and participated in well over thirty group shows both nationally and internationally. Her work is in the permanent collections of the University of California Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA and Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN, as well as many corporate collections, including Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and the Millennium Art Collection in the Ritz Carlton, Battery Park, in NYC. The artist lives in Catskill, NY, and works in a curated artist campus called Foreland.