"Arsenal 4" by Cedar Sigo

[View this email on a browser]( [Forward to a friend]( [facebook-icon]( [tumblr-icon]( [twitter-icon]( December 10, 2018 [Arsenal 4]( [Cedar Sigo]( Cinders in clotted smoke stone of the war and its gleaming battle plans reduced to perfection the floors reappear in silent symphonic gestures, a folded paper calico window hung with tiger skins, knocking twice at night Jerusalem red lamps worn more as a garland than her smear turning trampled door breaking the fall scribbles under square jars, giants in long fits in hieroglyphics the painters weaned on bent reed pens drilled holes, blood ink of gorgons (violet) sample of the sirens hooked in delay over and underwater approaches replete faint bluish grey [Like this on Facebook]( [Share via Twitter]( Copyright © 2018 Cedar Sigo. Used with permission of the author. [Sigo reads "Arsenal 4."]( About This Poem “I wanted condensed color in places then color degraded and bleeding out into other spots. In order to perform this poem successfully, I try to concentrate on skating only its silences. I break the line quickly to make it fall tall and thin, like the Watts Towers. This way I can identify the silences streaming through a little easier as I’m reading. My partner recently asked me to read this poem as I was preparing to perform, but he couldn’t remember the title. When I asked him to describe it, he said, ‘You know, the poem where you describe all the colored gasses.’” —Cedar Sigo [Cedar Sigo]( Cedar Sigo’s most recent book is Royals (Wave Books, 2017). He lives in Lofall, Washington. Photo Credit: Brian Marr [more-at-poets]( [Royals]( Poetry by Sigo [Royals]( (Wave Books, 2017) "Why Is the Color of Snow?" by Brenda Shaughnessy [read-more]( "Tender Buttons [Objects]" by Gertrude Stein [read-more]( "War Catalogues" by Nomi Stone [read-more]( December Guest Editor: Carmen Giménez Smith Thanks to Carmen Giménez Smith, author of Cruel Futures (City Lights Publishers, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read more about [Giménez Smith]( and our [guest editors for the year.]( [make a one-time donation]( [make a monthly donation]( [Advertisement]( [Small-Blue-RGB-poets.org-Logo]( Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit [Poets.org](. You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click [here](. © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038