Stanley Moss (1925–2024), a major American poet, published Goddamned Selected Poems with Carcanet in 2024. His many poetry collections fight for the lyrical truth with original weapons. He made the ordinary beautiful and extraordinary.
By Stanley Moss
I teach my friend, a fisherman gone blind, to cast
true left, right or center and how far
between lily pads and the fallen cedar.
Darkness is precious, how long will darkness last?
Our bait, worms, have no professors, they live
in darkness, can be...
By Stanley Moss
The piano has crawled into the quarry. Hauled
In last night for firewood, sprawled
With frozen barrels, crates and sticks,
The piano is waiting for the axe.
Legless, a black box, still polished;
It lies on its belly like a lizard,
Droning, heaving, hardly fashioned
For the...
