"Three Shards"
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At certain times of day the lure displays itself too loudly. Too proud the triple treble hooks, too bright the lacquered shank of snare flashing through a school of bass, an invitation pressed and passed. At times like this, it's best to join those collecting stones and shells and sticks, reminders that we won't survive even as we resist the pull to go beyond where we belong, like fish. Flat stones taken home, no voice or song, but strong, heavy playing cards facedown on a shelf for us to touch in comfort, not alarm—for that, we have the phone whose ring at certain times means just one thing.
John Skoyles' fourth book of poems, The Situation, will be published next year. He is also the author of a memoir, Secret Frequencies: A New York Education.
For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click spacerhereyeshyperlinkPoetry SubmissionsSlate reads new poems from Oct. 1 to April 30. Manuscripts sent between May 1 and Sept. 30 will not be considered.To submit poems: Send, as a single attached document, up to three poems of no more than 50 lines each to editors@slatepoems.com. Use the poet's name for the subject line of the e-mail and for the title of the attachment. We prefer Word documents (.doc or .docx) to PDFs.Please include a brief, professional cover letter, including publication history, in the body of your email. Please limit submissions to one per poet per annual reading period. Simultaneous submissions are OK. Slate no longer accepts poetry submissions by mail. The email address editors@slatepoems.com is for poetry submissions only (or to notify editors of acceptance elsewhere of a poem under consideration at Slate). Other inquiries, etc., will not be addressed.10000false220061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM63271989937000000020061444537PMWednesdayJanJanuary161/4/2006 9:45:37 PM632719899370000000.Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.