N O V E M B E R 1 9 9 0
PATIO
by Christopher Jane CorkeryHear Christopher Jane Corkery read this poem (in RealAudio):
(For help, see a note about the audio.)
Also by Christopher Jane Corkery:
Central and Main (1996)
Jigsaw Puzzle in Pregnancy (1994)
As in the Days of the Prophets (1992)
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I count the bricks
(Each pairing clicks),
Count the space
I need to make
To hold four chairs,
A plate of pears,
And a table of wood
On which the plate
Can sit.
To this green shade
I won't admit
Defeat, or heat,
Or an angry clock
Outraged at having
No time to tell,
Or love embarrassed
Because unanswered,
Or men political
And thick.
Bricks and dirt,
Sand and shade,
The thirsty maples
Still in our service --
Is this how the word
Turns into flesh,
No paten raised
But a summer yard,
One child hiding
Deep in forsythia,
The other boldly
Waiting to be born?
Copyright 1990 by Christopher Jane Corkery. All rights reserved.
Originally published in The Atlantic Monthly, November 1990.
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