SETH MICHELSON

 

Seth Michelson (Philadelphia, United States, 1975) has published twenty-one books of original poetry and poetry in translation, as well as three anthologies of poetry, including the bilingual-Spanish anthology Dreaming America: Voices of Undocumented Youth in Maximum-Security Detention (Settlement House, 2017). His most recent book of original poetry is Rengo (Valparaíso, 2024). His honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation, and his work has been translated into several languages, including German, Slovenian, Spanish, Hindi, Italian, Serbian, and Vietnamese. He teaches poetry at Washington and Lee University, where he founded and directs the Center for Poetic Research and is Director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

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Prequel

 

Whether due to illness

or accident,

congenital or acquired,

limping marks you:

lightning

against the tree:

the trunk

disfigured,

the smell of smoke

and the roots

reborn

for the gift

from burning.