Fly
The stream collapses into a nugget fly irritating the air
recently dead recalled and then
less recently dead
and then I keep thinking to write
a list what you have missed since you left
absurd the days crowded with lists since you left
and who is you you ask as if the poem would reply in its candor
You know who you is
as if—
Fly agitates the air infuriating never goes out bumps
against the screen
how come everyone knows I am not I and what does this mean
this I among you
and who is this you—
The you of the late afternoon the you of birdsong
the you of the weeds the daylilies of the far field the you of
awakening at dawn
of the sight of a bobcat mirage of the wild
the you of Amnesty International and the silent bikers
the you of terror the word that failed.
Fly a buzzword for freedom? Hashtag
beckoning the insurmountably forgotten
and the recently mourned.
Agon of falsity enriching our fields discontent and consent the
theoretical other
their actual grace in black lace and
discernment
the fly is berserk the facts are misleading what did you
miss?
I lives in a corner of the world near yes They your dead.
Notes:
This piece is part of the portfolio “How It Continues to Astonish: The Poetry of Ann Lauterbach.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the March 2023 issue. All poems are from Door by Ann Lauterbach, published by Penguin, and printed here with the permission of the author.
Source: Poetry (March 2023)