Apparitions and Incarnations — Blackbird Archive

← v11n1, Spring 2012

Possession’s a sort of sad business; the gods

can’t win an audience in their own skins, can neither

confuse themselves with their vessels nor forget

they must step off the stage to fulfill the seduction.

Abroad in London, I watched my brother play

Shelley wearing nothing but a bathrobe for two acts.

Off and on he’d open his robe and dance a little jig.

I remember one woman saying, “I had no idea

Shelley was so . . . well . . . that explains everything.”

art identity humor

Will Schutt

Will Schutt is the author of one collection of poetry, Westerly (forthcoming from Yale University Press), which won the 2012 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. His poems have recently appeared in FIELD , Harvard Review , The Kenyon Review Online , and The Southern Review . His translations from Italian have appeared in AGNI , A Public Space , and Drunken Boat . He is the recipient of fellowships from The James Merrill House, and the Stadler Center for Poetry. Photo by E. Mckee