I thought it took A red-tailed hawk To make hunger Look so easy. As if It was your first time with me, You lay awake all night, Though your clothes Went right to sleep Like man's best friend When you slipped Into that other landscape. As if the steam iron Could dream Of being a whale, Becalmed in sea-wrinkles, The distance (Such a lonesome cowboy) Only shrugged And walked away. How were you to know What passions Stood on their toes For a better look When you brushed your hair From your forehead -- They were undone! The vacant sun Has better manners Than anyone. When you rose In the first, slender light, It touched your shoulder -- But only a little -- As if to say, @3Excuse me, you dropped this@1, Having risen all night to see you. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org |