Five Flights Up

Elizabeth Bishop’s 'Five Flights Up' is a poem that meditates on a domestic morning scene, using detailed observation to evoke themes of time, memory, and small-scale revelation.

Schultz reads an extended passage from the poem during the interview and attributes his book title to a line within it.

The poem exemplifies Bishop’s ability to distill large emotional questions into concise, image-driven moments.

Its restrained tone and meticulous attention to detail have influenced many later poets.

'Five Flights Up' operates as a quiet exemplar of Bishop’s craft and an artistic touchstone for Schultz.