How Much I Love You

Peter Balakian

when your shadow walks through the wall.

when my heart is a false beat

when throbbing moves around the room the way
floaters spin across the eye

when the pale green of wet grass
when the confusion of new leaves

when the brush strokes are blue

when the buds of azaleas spread across lawns

when the daylight is water.

No sign is clear, fully.

Stay there, I’ll find you.

Peter Balakian teaches at Colgate University and is the author of nine books of poems, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ozone Journal and the forthcoming New York Trilogy.
Originally published:
April 1, 2019

Featured

Searching for Seamus Heaney

What I found when I resolved to read him
Elisa Gonzalez

What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh

By learning my family's language, I hoped to join their conversation.
Dan Fox

When Does a Divorce Begin?

Most people think of it as failure. For me it was an achievement.
Anahid Nersessian

You Might Also Like

Bulgur

Peter Balakian

The Tablecloth

Giovanni Pascoli
and
Geoffrey Brock

Newsletter

Sign up for The Yale Review newsletter to receive our latest articles in your inbox, as well as treasures from the archives, news, events, and more.