Elegy a Little

Linoleum and half a dozen eggs
In 1960
            Many towered Ilium
A brand name and a shopping list too

Memory distinguishes all things from
Only nothing
                   I was born and grew
Rooms stacked up into houses
A few trees (maples) weltered in their seasons
Wildly like sea birds in crude oil
                                              What amazes
Me now amazed me always but never
Often eyesight is prophetic instantly

Seeing broken eggs on the linoleum
In the kitchen 1960
I saw a broken lifetime further
On as I see now my happy sister

Copyright Credit: Donald Revell, “Elegy a Little” from Arcady: Poems © 2002 by Donald Revell.  Reprinted by permission of Donald Revell.
Source: Arcady (Wesleyan University Press, 2002)