Thursday, February 19, 2009

Why I Stopped Reading Halfway Through

Why I Stopped Reading Halfway Through

Is it the book
Or is it me?

Is it the quadrant
Of the moon?

Is it the barometric
Pressure,

Or the song
Of the loon?

Is it the constel-
lations in the sky?

Is it the author?

Or,

Is it

I

?



Manhattan, January 27, 2009

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Is it the quadrant
Of the moon?


I like this a lot. You get away from the first, obvious question (Is it the book / Or is it me?) quickly, and the following six possibilities (moon, air, birds...) seem at once striking but inevitable.

And your flagrant imitation of Langston Hughes did not go unnoticed.

(I wonder, though, at having the moon and the stars occupy separate couplets..? It seems like there must be something else, maybe?)

Very readable. Accomplishes its modest ambitions nicely.