PASTORELLE 8
Young woman
Amish
green dress apron translucent white prayer bonnet
strings of her bonnet trailing in the air
rollerskating down the road
by herself alone in the air and light of an ungloomy Sunday afternoon
herself and her skating shadow
the painter said
beauty is what we add to things
and I
chainsawing in the woods above the road
say what could be added
what other than giving this roaring machine a rest.
Somewhere else, I, like others, have showcased this poem before. I can't get enough of it.
Of course it is the girl, the balance of the body (girl and poem), everything of the day spinning in almost midair, her following shadow, the poet with roaring chainsaw knowing it was time to give "it a rest" — both loud living as well the poem. Though this poem resonates, it stops on a feather, a thread. A dime hasn't yet been invented where this poem is coming from.
John Taggart is the son of a preacher man. My bet is no one but the son of a preacher man would ever see this sexual and divine image of translucent white prayer bonnet.
Nothing's perfect, but this poem is close.
There are 350 pages more of the same.
is music
selected poems
John Taggart
edited by Peter O'Leary
Foreword by C.D. Wright
Copper Canyon Press, 2010
www.coppercanyonpress.org
photo : John Taggart
c/o Big Bridge
c/o Big Bridge
