"A Place in Maine"
Listen to Sherod Santos read this poem.
"Face it"—this said with such urgency,
it's hard to tell who it is she's talking to,
herself or me—"I just can't live like this anymore."
Never more at home, I realize it's over now,
the gesture forged as finally as the front door slamming
(or my memory of it), and perhaps as well,
beneath it all, some inkling of the reason why:
It hurt for her to see me see what I couldn't,
in my heart, quite pity. And yet, across the lesser
distance of some forty years, she invites me
over drinks to think how hard it must've been for her.
And didn't I remember, six months later,
the note she'd sent me from that place in Maine?
"You mustn't forget I'm still your mother."
Rule No. 1 for Female Academics: Don’t Have a Baby
How Can You Survive in an Air Bubble 100 Feet Underwater for Three Days?
Why Do Women Always Have to Smile?
Sherod Santos is the author of five books of poetry, most recently The Perishing. In 2005, he published Greek Lyric Poetry: A New Translation.
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.