John Frederick Nims was the author of seven books of poetry, along with translations of Euripides, St. John of the Cross, Michaelangelo, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. He served as editor of Poetry magazine from 1978-1984 and edited the widely used textbook Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry.
Poetry
Winter 1994
Pascal on Ultrasound
"Just midway on the gurney of ... " a dismalQuip as they wheel me through Flourescent gloom,Chill sheet to keep the chill off, down abysmalHallways of anestehsiea to a room […]
Poetry
Winter 1994
Bernini in Winter: The Seizure
Snowfall at Christmas: windows here below Gala with three-ring glories from above, Their merry-go-rounds and ferris-wheels of snow –Such, I whirl off on vertigoes of love: Breath caught, lip bitten, […]
Poetry
Winter 1950
Watcher Go Deftly
Careful, careful; you cannot be too deft With the pines on the shore and the little shells Lip-color, eyelid-color, pale as a thigh— Feel your palm tingle with little gourds […]
Poetry
Winter 1950
Winter in the Park
Lagoons are shrunk and walkable as concrete, The little islands accessible now That in June were a green secret the sunburnt lovers Bumped with their rented prow. Trees empty […]
Poetry
Winter 1950
Saeclum in Favilla
Blue fire deep in the eye; Girl's hair gentlest of fire; Fingers: summer's white rose; Breath: always southern air. A temperate heat. (Remember Boy's dream on the fireside floor?) But […]
Winter 2012
Winter in the Park
Lagoons are shrunk and walkable as concrete,
The little islands accessible now
That in June were a green secret the sunburnt lovers
Bumped with their rented prow.