We persist in living and in writing well.
On First Looking into Sexton’s Cummiskey Alley
by Dana Stabenow
He writes of the bend toward Asia from a
Yankee mill town on the bend of a river
Where dropped r’s leave one dead to rights and
Hearts are stolen without leaving bruises.
Here on the bend, not a mill town but a
Fish town girl, my mother caught the fish his
Mother boxed as fish sticks. Mirabile
Dictu, he is a poet, I a scribe.
Who was Dickens to say we are of the
Humbler class? My ass.
A sonnet for the catcher is the best
Defense against what’s coming at us next
Right over the plate. Heaven? Nothing? Hell?
We persist in living and in writing well.
Note: As advertised above, I wrote this after reading Tom’s new collection. He says his favorite is “Home Room.” Mine is “Catcher.” I freely plagiarized lines and images he uses in his poems, and the line about Dickens was inspired by the epigram at the beginning of his book.
My goodness. I was taken aback. (In a good way)
That is such an awesome poem Dana! I can see why poetry in college brought you alive..