ISSUE 43
May 2009

Elisabeth Frost

 

Elisabeth Frost is the author of a critical study, The Feminist Avant-Garde in American Poetry (Iowa, 2003) and a chapbook, Rumor (Mermaid Tenement Press, 2009). She co-edited Innovative Women Poets: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry and Interviews (Iowa, 2006). Frost is associate professor of English at Fordham University, where she directs Poets Out Loud and edits the POL Prize from Fordham Press.

Success means preparation, without it is failure    

But even if it does loom
on the other
side of prom-

ise, it's surely also true
most talented
cooks invent

on the spot. The sure thing's no
victory—safe
investments

paying off, appointments kept.
Clout's okay but
it isn't

worth sacrificing your spon-
taneity.
Those empty

briefcases (my specialty)
or a cupboard
all but bare—

to make of lack a master-
piece, now that's suc-
cess. To hell

with paradigms and plans.
For now I'll take
my chances.

 

 

Elisabeth Frost: Poetry
Copyright ©2009 The Cortland Review Issue 43The Cortland Review