SOMETIMES WE SPEAK TO OURSELVES by Peter Grandbois
Peter Grandbois
SOMETIMES WE SPEAK TO OURSELVES
in dead things  other times  we fit
too many  bodies  into the meadow
where the elk  whistle and stamp  it’s strange
this book  of burning  leaves
where snow  sometimes settles  inside
like prayer  other times  you walk
a thousand  lost roads  hammered by rain
while the moon  interrogates  the night sky
in one sorrowful  frenzy  of longing
stars  reminding us  we can
do the hard things  now  it’s easy
to carry  the abraded  blanket
to the river’s  edge  the days
are forever  letting go  and
we are  not here  to explain
a thing  but simply  to choose
the rumor  of the sea  this
animal  slowness  of life
Peter Grandbois is the author of fourteen books, the most recent of which is Domestic Bestiary. His plays have been performed in St. Louis, Columbus, Los Angeles, and New York. He is poetry editor at Boulevard and teaches at Denison University in Ohio. You can find him at www.petergrandbois.com.
Read more from Cleaver Magazine’s Issue #45.
Cover image by Jen Mathy