In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

154 SUSAN TICHY I FOUND THIS PENCIL IN A PARKING LOT I found this pencil in a parking lot Tree branch lying on a frozen lake Not only the world around, but the world around that Barbed wire strung through the beet fields By classic, heroic nudity our life was cheered Headwall, Fluted Peak: in the hard stare, the sweet Good-looking soldier in helmet and shades Anything can speak as a riddle, but he looks bored How many hours guarding their shining oxen? You and I were drinking tea aged in a tangerine Not in a tangerine, but in its skin Where, then, is the sweet fruit? 49 days of spirit wander Pack horse tangled in the prayer flags ‘What mountain is this, my dear?’ Where there is mountain, something is flat I found this pencil in a parking lot 155 SUSAN TICHY COME BACK EACH SUMMER TO SEE HOW FAR YOUR FAVORITE ROCK HAS MOVED Come back each summer to see how far Your favorite rock has moved No object of interest to ants, nor to butterflies Silty water and root-stained ice That is to say, when a white object Casts a shadow on a white surface And instead of notepaper, a red book ‘For the only thing certain about dark sides Is that their colour will be changeful’ Their color will be changeful But the whole range is called The Mountain of God The trail traverses, kick steps as you go Dirty wool caught in the barbed wire But only now and then As cloud is driven from steep to steep And birds alone, who can pass freely over the walls of the prison, say ‘There is nothing there, only unclimbed peaks’ And the stones of Tamburlaine’s army And the stones of Tamburlaine’s army ‘For the nobleness of mystery is neither idle nor undefined’ Gates and palaces, locked temples (On the mountain the mountain goes unseen) ‘And liberty of the separate leaves To trace these laws of government’ Cutting steps in the old snow Spruce pollen caught in the fold of my shirt Come back each summer to see how far Your favorite rock has moved 156 SUSAN TICHY CONTEST vb [mf contester, fr. L contestari to bring an action at law, fr. contestari to call to witness] vi (1603): strive, vie; vt (1603) to make the subject of dispute, contention, or litigation; dispute, challenge [ie trei, three, 11: third person standing by 1 Call me the patroller of roads Clack of grasshopper in humid thought Once in a while it helps to pinpoint the error In penciled relationship stone house Gravestone in the woods commensurate To God in a plant fission or fusion Muscle concealed in a shirtsleeve Capture at night where it roosts Fledged family (That slight rhythm of fear denotes escape) Unloved anonymous tutelary Antebellum hurl I want no part of Sloping down to a cool mist • I entered the woods where an old stone wall Trespass on my own requirement 157 Flood water receding, iambic oar Dipped in to the depth of persuasion Constant escape into other climates Obedience to an unfenced grave (Deceive myself here and be done with it) 1860s: Father and son went west, one died Brother and two sisters mourned The loss of their slaves as they saw fit Deny holograph trace and scuttle Kinship remote commensurate With debt • I have nae come tae drink the wine The claws correspond exactly Audible pain of a plucked string The saint is assisting the lion A volume of so notorious, not to say sacred a character Its ravages among the scholars, figures of word order Trimmed out of existence Yet if now word is not a word The obvious awe, the torn edge (Take courage, throw the tutelage) I must perforce gae seik my father’s sword • 158 In fragments of a catechism Critical apparatus and be true Asking fruit where there weren’t any grew Plausible reason for battle To row the Potomac or St. Gregory’s River distributing names according to circumstances Clause preceding or surrounding Vessel abandoned to waves and winds It rise betymes an effigy • Then what’s the blood that’s on your...

pdf

Share