Four Poems
Bells
The sound of bells and then
The sound of a siren
And then the afternoon
Pouring through the opened
Windows, tall and wooden
And now there’s the sound
Of quiet, someone working
Birds squawk, person leaves
The sound too of music one
Hears through headphones
from "Places" (Camden)
It feels wrong to move away from this place
Listening to this music,
Sitting in the car, about to pull away
The leaves in the distance, all around,
Don’t want you to leave yet
And so you stay and listen
One piece ends, the presenter speaks about it,
And another begins
The bell tolls for noon
Luxuriousness of deep backyards
Interweaving of shared vistas
The lake just keeps on going
The glitter on the pond continues its endless shimmer
The Island
Each experiences their day differently
They’re here for the thing
But the rhythms pressures and expectations
Are uniquely welded to one soul
A woman’s head above the car
Seen in her garage on the telephone
Her family seated at an outdoor table nearby
Conversing and listening to the breeze
Up There
Up there somewhere high up
Or midway up the tree
There’s a moment caught
Something that’s been there for years
Growing there it’s somehow too
On the building face opposite
Water dripping from that fountain
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.
Nick Benfey
Nick Benfey (b. 1993, Amherst, MA) received a BA from Bowdoin College and an MFA from Hunter College. He has had solo exhibitions at Sears Peyton Gallery, NY, and Moss Galleries in Portland, ME, and has participated in numerous group shows nationally and internationally. He was included in the Center for Maine Contemporary Art’s 2023 Biennial in Rockland, ME. He lives and works in Brooklyn.