This poem is taken from PN Review 205, Volume 38 Number 5, May - June 2012.
Three Poems
Colloquium
Ten miles below the polar ice
exists a rock that praises Christ.
Beneath imperishable white
it sings a hymn throughout the night.
All life and colour there contract
into impassioned parts of black.
It grumbles for its daily bread.
It is unquestionably dead.
I wrap it up in furs and felt.
Ten miles above, the ice caps melt.
USA
I cannot get out of the car.
Still the sky blackens; in the west
thin strips of light repeat a test.
So, when you wish upon a star,
this much is true, if not the rest.
It makes no difference who you are.
Final Demand
The switch is broken. When I press
...
Ten miles below the polar ice
exists a rock that praises Christ.
Beneath imperishable white
it sings a hymn throughout the night.
All life and colour there contract
into impassioned parts of black.
It grumbles for its daily bread.
It is unquestionably dead.
I wrap it up in furs and felt.
Ten miles above, the ice caps melt.
USA
I cannot get out of the car.
Still the sky blackens; in the west
thin strips of light repeat a test.
So, when you wish upon a star,
this much is true, if not the rest.
It makes no difference who you are.
Final Demand
The switch is broken. When I press
...
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