poem: A weekly poem, read by the author.

"[The line between heaven and earth]"

By Michael McGriff
Posted Tuesday, April 15, 2008, at 8:10 AM ET

Listen to Michael McGriff read this poem.


The line between heaven and earth
******glows just slightly
when a bear's gallbladder
******is hacked out
and put on ice in California:
******the line between
heaven and earth begins
******with a ginseng root
and ends in an anvil:
******the gallbladder rides
in a foam cooler
******on a bench-seat
in a pickup heading north: the line
******between heaven and earth
carries a crate of dried fish
******on its back:
The man driving the gallbladder
******used to sell Amway
and sand dollars blessed
******by Guatemalan priests:
the anvil and the root
******describe the body
in youth and in old age:
******the crate of fish
also contains the stars,
******which do not spill out
above the truckstop
******on the Oregon side
of the border, where one man
******counts another's money,
and the gallbladder passes hands:
******this could be your father,
who drove two days
******to spend all the borrowed money
he could find, who unpacks the organ,
******lets it warm on a tin sheet
above his Buick's engine block
******before he crushes
an ashy powder into the bile
******and spoons it
into the mouth of a child
******whose fevers grind
the teeth of rage:
******this is how the stories
of all miracles begin.

Print This ArticlePRINTDiscuss this in The FrayDISCUSSEmail to a FriendE-MAIL
Share on FacebookPost to MySpace!Share with MixxDigg ThisShare with RedditShare with del.icio.usShare with FurlShare with Ma.gnolia.comShare with SphereShare with Stumble Upon
Michael McGriff's first book, Dismantling the Hills, is forthcoming in 2008.
For Slate's poetry submission guidelines, click here.

Click here to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.

Click here for an archive of "Poet's Choice" columns from the Washington Post.
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES
Washington Post
The Washington Post
OPINIONS
Topic A: Obama's Speech
| Pundits and diplomats respond.
Robinson: Sunshine in BerlinToles: Obama the UniterTelnaes: Meanwhile, McCain
PLUS » Stumped: Bring Back Bill Clinton