On this cold
threshold
camped
cramped
stiff and sore
at your door
here I lie.
No reply.
Not abject
not broken
dreaming, yes,
for real, eyes open
stoned on pure
hope’s elixir,
centered, aligned
climbing blind:
Hummingbird
half-assured
dragonfly
darting by
river otter’s
daughter
quicksilver thru
still water,
Su
zy
now
methinks
thou
art
part
sphinx.
—Jim Powell
Jim Powell’s new collection of poetry, Substrate, was published in April 2009 by Pantheon. His translation of the poetry of Sappho is available from Oxford University Press. His indigenous habitat is in Northern California.
