Poem in Which

there is zein lurve
for the erratic current
‘that word broke the
flow of the
poem’, ‘____ gave me pause’,
‘stopped me’
but isn’t that the mandate?
rocks in poem-river cause si
sin singing
ging. silent rush is
instrumental text.

do you begin with the end in
mend? in the lumberyard
his unlabored pause, a squint
weighing pat-
ience. at length the good old boy’s
slow reply: you’re only young
once…your whole life long.

Pearl Pirie