HOME / poem: A weekly poem, read by the author.

"Daily Threads"

By Wyn CooperPosted Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, at 7:04 AM ET

Click the arrow on the audio player to hear Wyn Cooper read this poem. You can also download the recording or subscribe to Slate's Poetry Podcast on iTunes.

.

Backstreet barricade, arcane
balustrade, hidden kingdom of wing and prayer,
details too fine to miss or mess with,
skinny escape from a netherhood
of parapets and puddle soaked oaks.

Hospital palatial, shadows under foot and bed.
Time glacial. Fear the sound in both ears.
Tubes, lube, sudden exclamation,
declaration of unrepentance, remnants
of dinner untouched, rouged, hushed.

Scat tracks, crosswalk, bebop
haircut; moonshine, daylight,
pills not popped: no threats
to these daily threads I weave and weave.

E-MAIL

RECOMMEND... Get Slate RSS Feeds

Wyn Cooper's fourth book of poems, Chaos Is the New Calm, will be published in 2010. He has worked for the past year at the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, a think tank run by the Poetry Foundation. He lives in Vermont.

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 discussions about poems with Robert Pinsky in "the Fray," Slate's reader forum.

What did you think of this article?

Join The Fray: Our Reader Discussion Forum

POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES