Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Next Issue Kirsty Gunn re-arranges the world John McAuliffe reads Seamus Heaney's letters and translations Chris Price's 'Songs of Allegiance' David Herman on Aharon Appelfeld Victoria Moul on Christopher Childers compendious Greek and Latin Lyric Book Philip Terry again answers the question, 'What is Poetry'
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 198, Volume 37 Number 4, February - March 2011.

Five Poems Mina Gorji
Bittern

it thrives
in brackish water
where the sea has broken in –
in marshes and on river banks –
edges of solid ground.
When danger comes
it imitates the reeds
sticking its head up straight
and swaying in the wind.
A nervous bird, more often heard than seen,
its hollow boom
was heard at night
in ancient and in empty times –
in Nineveh and Babylon.




Empire of the Dandelion
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image