20 NOV 06
Rebecca Loudon's new book, Radish King, has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
(Below, a photo of my copy, showing a little wear at the spine.)
A poem from Radish King by Rebecca Loudon:
Topgallant
All the streets are named for water.
She's ready to go it alone, more than ready
having tired of and tidied her family,
having sewed her daughter, her son, into waterproof coats, having secured their passage on the bullet train.
There is no difference between her shoulder
and the boat's cedar flanks.
She creates a small ceremony with fire.
She has stopped sleeping
having wrapped biscuits and lemons in wax paper,
having named a mouse Bowsprit,
having sent the mouse ahead to scout.
A longwinded wasp noses at the pit
of her left arm but she is too intent
on her task to notice, hurry, hurry
having lifted the hair from her neck,
having knotted the hair in a shoelace,
having tied the clove hitch.
She throws her shoes over the prow,
clutches the sides of the boat
as in teeth,
as in fist.
:
ps: Rebecca's first book, Tarantella, is pretty hot too.
. . .
