Light Bulb Poem
at 4 o'clock I am at the door
with a bare hand of snow
laughing shamelessly
I undo my shirt
we'll pick up at the next chapter
my beloved are the words of the rambler
if not the words the substance
the snow smeared across my front
warm to the touch
though we remain separated as if by a chair
and I unwilling to read ahead
Amarillo Poem
A room across from a sporting house. With the dark,
I watched a woman washing the men off; then herself
she washed with a different cloth. It was fall. I was sitting
on my bed in my flame-proof gown. Every morning
I had to jump aboard my suitcase to get it to close.
Poem With Some Water Damage
She kept boarders kept hens
in the heart of town
heard birds whenever I phoned
now bullhorn now chopper
someone puts a plate in her hands
hours later someone takes the plate
from her hands Damn he says
if it ain't overcast again
Poem With A Dead Tree
it is late afternoon
she avoids looking
in its direction
she can feel
it moving toward her
in shaky black lines
Poem From The End Of Old Wire Road
hands as heavy as rocks
in the pockets of a Goodwill coat
kicking up leaves
she uncovers four trout lilies
Ah spring how it made her
want to walk backwards
or stick a fork in her side
Poem Before Breakfast
She pulled the sundress over her head
Forgetting her pants, her sandals,
And her ring.
Leaving her glasses on the sink
She unlatched the screen.
With her lunch money
Tucked in her pocket;
Her clean manila hair
Settling down her back.
She went out on her toes
To see if the painted bunting
Had fled her wedding bush.
____________________
C.D. Wright
The Essential C.D. Wright
edited by Forrest Gander & Michael Wiegers
Copper Canyon Press, 2025
