March 11, 2024 Poetry

By Lamplight

By David Capps
By Lamplight Artwork by DALL·E 
In my old age before my old age I reach 
for a glass of water, a book 
on the nightstand.

The Inferno is popular. Let it be
The Inferno. Virgil says something stupid 
having spent too long in heaven.

For as long as my friends have known me
I’ve been falling in and out of love.
But they are well. 

The past continues its lingering existence, 
a lamplight in the dark: a meringue’s 
tongue-sweet before the fall 

childhood smear of Trinity, firefly 
shadows between my fingers, slipping as I 
say them, crossed with tortuous

personality, love’s parachuting dive-
bombers. It is time to forget the images.
The sublime images.

Related content


the blue crab, runa the wise, a profile

rubble sun

Luigi’s penthouse

Lefty’s tender side


David Capps

David Capps is a philosophy professor and poet who lives in New Haven, CT. He is the author of four chapbooks: Poems from the First Voyage (The Nasiona Press, 2019), A Non-Grecian Non-Urn (Yavanika Press, 2019), Colossi (Kelsay Books, 2020), and Wheatfield with a Reaper (Akinoga Press, forthcoming). His latest work, On the Great Duration of Life, a riff on Seneca’s On the Shortness of Life, is available from Schism Neuronics.

Profiles:

Website: https://wcsu.academia.edu/DavidCapps

Your support helps keep Dumbo Press alive

We're new to the game but we understand small indie lit presses operate at a net loss, especially when no ads are run. Every donation, no matter the size, directly contributes to our ability to continue finding, publishing, and promoting literary fiction. It allows us to maintain our servers, dedicate time to editorial work, and, most importantly, provide a home for excellent literary pieces.

Please consider donating to help us stay in the game.