"Banish Misfortune"
(title of a traditional Irish jig)
Click here to listen to Ralph Sneeden read this poem.
We are not out of the woods, maybe in the wrong neck, like birds intending stasis
who weave their clot of straw
in the grill beside the headlight.
When we watch the dog watch
the bee's hungry circum-
navigation of the apple
fallen to the fading
lawn, that burrowing amuses
us, as if the excavation
of imploded rot were somehow
different than the steam
rising from our coffee
or eaves of the future's sun-
lit mud room and rusty nail,
its retired blue collar,
bangles of expired vaccinations.
Ralph Sneeden's first book of poems, Off Little Misery Island, will be published by Il Merlo Press in the fall of 2006.
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.Click here for an archive of "Poet's Choice" columns from the Washington Post.