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August 31
Happy Anniversary

By David LehmanPosted Wednesday, July 25, 2001, at 3:00 AM ET

You've been together
thirty-nine months
do I think that's
significant I do why
thirty-nine is the number
of months you need to be
accident-free to erase
traffic violations from
your driving record it's
the number of lines
in a sestina the number
of "Steps" in Hitchcock's
dream of espionage with
the male and female leads
handcuffed together
overnight on the train
to the distant north

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David Lehman's new collection of poems, released in April 2005, is When a Woman Loves a Man.
Click here to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site. To submit poetry to Slate, send up to five poems and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Robert Pinsky, Slate Magazine, Boston University, 236 Bay State Road Boston, Mass., 02215
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