This poem is taken from PN Review 291, Volume 53 Number 1, September - October 2026.
Incidental like a Dolphin
i. In the heel of the reel, death may be largely
our conversion from the one particular
into the many. The any, even. A wheel trim, say,
ludicrous by a dune path hectic with snail,
silken rose and lemony pockets of kidney vetch.
ii. Knotted slings of dog waste deck the sea holly
where, a sleepless indolent aping sage, I
pluck with my telescopic grabber to fill
transparent green bin liner with plastic booty: spatched
bottle tops, atomic orbits of angler’s gut, plus
other Anthropocene beach finery,
polyurethane middens of a society perfecting
how its past may yet surpass its time to come.
iii. My current wife, the sky, lacquers out over the whale-
loud deeps, the seed heads of her swathing water
turquoising under belts of wrack, thongs of weed
...
our conversion from the one particular
into the many. The any, even. A wheel trim, say,
ludicrous by a dune path hectic with snail,
silken rose and lemony pockets of kidney vetch.
ii. Knotted slings of dog waste deck the sea holly
where, a sleepless indolent aping sage, I
pluck with my telescopic grabber to fill
transparent green bin liner with plastic booty: spatched
bottle tops, atomic orbits of angler’s gut, plus
other Anthropocene beach finery,
polyurethane middens of a society perfecting
how its past may yet surpass its time to come.
iii. My current wife, the sky, lacquers out over the whale-
loud deeps, the seed heads of her swathing water
turquoising under belts of wrack, thongs of weed
...
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