Franz K. Baskett is a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Arkansas. His poetry has appeared in the Southern Review, The Pacific Review, The New Orleans Review, Innisfree Poetry Journal and The Delinquent, et al. His book, The Accident Prone Man, was published in 1994 by Orchises Press of Washington, D.C. He is the winner of the Raymond L. Barnes Award and The Academy of American Poets Prize. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he work in the newspaper industry.
Summer 2010
Table of Contents - Vol. VI, No. 2
Franz K. Baskett
I have grown used
To the street below my bedroom,
The voices just beyond understanding,
The occasional shout or raised voice,
The laughter of my left neighbor,
High, gay and ironic, like sleigh bells.
And to the tire sounds on the pavement
Sushing like the sea with a mouthful of sand.
I can almost pick-out the make of the car
Its age and state of repair,
The mood of the driver.
If I close the window,
The silence is almost too strong for me
To fall asleep beside books
On burgundy sheets.
The ancients feared fresh air
Not knowing what might ride in it,
But I need the wind in my bed.
Something
Sighing, turning over.
© Franz K. Baskett
