Poetry Fiction 2008 ATLANTIC MAGAZINE

Event Horizon

By Rachel Hadas

A sneeze; a gull; an argument; a trip;
a finger bleeding from an envelope
whose clasp turned out to be sharp as a knife
so blood welling from my sudden cut
spots the page before I open it;
a leaking fountain pen; a piece of fruit
whose juice runs down my chin; the dolphin charm
on my new bracelet snagging in a lace
shawl as I turn the page. Remorseless foreground,
no one thing more real than any other.

Reachel Hadas's most recent collection of poems is River of Forgetfulness (2006). She teaches at Rutger's University.