"Water"
Listen to Paul Guest reading this poem. How I wanted to graze with my hand the armored hides of sturgeons aslosh in their shallow tanks I did not tell you, nor did I think to say how the garfish, sentry-like in their dull brown orbits, with their pen-shaped snouts skimming food, were named by someone who knew that gar meant spear in Old English. I forgot my place in the story I idly told you, as we rose in the elevator, as your hands found in my neck a knot your fingers could untie with ease. Love, you know that language failed me early with you: in my mouth you found a hidden stammer. In all the days since, what have I said that was right? So little. But know: when we stood on one side of thick glass to watch a world of water ignore our entire lives, I kissed your fingers and each one in that light was blue.
Paul Guest is the author ofThe Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World. His poems appear in Poetry, Crazyhorse, Prairie Schooner, Swink, and elsewhere. Visit his blog at http://paulguest.blogspot.com.
Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.Please note: Because Slate's backlog of accepted poems is substantial, poetry editor Robert Pinsky will not be reading new submissions until December 2005.


