Poetry

Commonplace (2)


Bending the line of a progression
into a curve is a discipline I observe wind inscribe
in cypress on the seacoast.

A perfected balance achieved in sleep
can sometimes twist up through wakefulness
its delicate wire and weight contraption.

A faceless distraction is noisily prowling
the rooms in my mirror
I’d already set in order.

Watching a stray leaf on the lawn
until the weight of its meaning as an object falls
through my attention and disappears.

Rusty Morrison is co-publisher of Omnidawn. After Urgency won Tupelo’s Dorset Prize (forthcoming 2012); the true keeps calm biding its story won Academy of American Poet’s James Laughlin Award, Northern California Book Award, Ahsahta’s Sawtooth Prize, and the DiCastagnola Award from Poetry Society of America. Whethering won the Colorado Prize for Poetry.