Jean Donnelly : from At Will











At Will is a serial poem that began in conversation with my ongoing reading and study of Hannah Arendt’s The Life of the Mind, Fanny Howe’s The Winter Sun, Joanne Kyger’s About Now: Collected Poems, and Simone Weil’s Gravity & Grace. Italicized lyrics are from “Unchained Melody” written by Alex North and Hy Zaret. The quote, “music always wins” by Samuel Beckett is from a discussion on his radio play Words and Music.
Jean Donnelly is the author of Green Oil (Further Other Book Works), Anthem (Sun & Moon), and the julia set (Edge Books). Her work has appeared recently at Open Letters Monthly, Dusie’s Tuesday Poem, and Lemonhound. She lives in Exeter, New Hampshire.