Trough

If in time
our tread
can soften
marble then
it’s also
possible that
words could
dish in the
middle
 when
read enough.
Don’t you feel
that trough
in certain
lines brimming
like rain in
an epitaph?

—Kay Ryan

Kay Ryan’s most recent book of poems is Erratic Facts. In 2012 she received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama.