"Boy on Crutches"
Click the arrow on the audio player to hear Terese Svoboda read this poem. You can also download the recording or subscribe to Slate's Poetry Podcast on iTunes.
Every third car in the car lot shines silver-with-roof-rack.
You press your goose caller, but nothing honks back.
It could be broken, or the car could be on 6. Wait here,
you tell him, his tick-thud echoing after
your every wrong turn. You ran two stops
to make his appointment, then you abandoned ship
willy-nilly, the waves licking, the waves
of concrete rising as the elevator misbehaved.
Every pew is filled on 6, all is silence.
No attendant, with godlike countenance,
just a family plodding with such purpose toward you,
asmirk at your obvious idiocy. You
go back for the boy, but it's the wrong bank.
Did he wander out or go game-deaf? Thank
god, on 9 the key fits, 9 is the 6, comics face down
in the back seat. You cruise 3 for him, done
Rule No. 1 for Female Academics: Don’t Have a Baby
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Terese Svoboda's most recent book of poetry is her fifth, Weapons Grade.
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.Click here to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.Click here for an archive of discussions about poems with Robert Pinsky in "the Fray," Slate's reader forum.