The Spoons in the Grass Are There to Dig a Moat. Amelia Martens
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      Copyright Amelia Martens 2016

      FIRST EDITION

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Martens, Amelia.

      [Poems. Selections]

      The spoons in the grass are there to dig a moat: prose poems / by Amelia Martens. -- First edition.

      pages; cm

      eISBN 978-1-941411-24-7

      I. Title.

      PS3613.A77773A6 2016 811’.6--dc23

      2015027058

      Cover design and interior by Kristen Radtke.

      This book is printed on acid-free paper.

      Sarabande Books is a nonprofit literary organization.

      This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

      The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports Sarabande Books with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

      for Britton

      for Thea and Opal

      CONTENTS

      When People Look to the Sky

      In the First World

      In God’s Country

      B-I-N-G-O

      Don’t Miss Our Mower and Tractor Spectacular

      Direct Contact

      Baggage

      In the First World

      In the Land of Milk

      A Hundred Miles from the Border

      Morning Girl

      And Then the Idea of Weeds

      Late Night Comedy

      Collection

      In the Days before Thanksgiving

      Pluto Was a Planet

      Tuesday

      Union

      Forecast

      The Prince of Peace Is Herding Sheep

      Inexplicable Universe

      Localized Extinction

      In the Country of Neutrality

      Wednesday

      Coming Forth to Carry Us

      Routine

      We Ask for Five Minutes

      The Robin Pulls a Thread

      Almost Biblical

      Historical Accuracy

      Pink Pigs and Orange Horses

      Dust

      Postcard from The End 2.0

      Newtown

      Disney Daughter Dead, 2013

      The Secret Lives of Cows

      Middle America

      Birth Day

      Heartwood

      In the First World

      Pen Pal

      They Shoot People, Don’t They?

      Magicicada

       THE APOLOGY

      And the apology I made for you came from a willow tree. From a lemon. From some mud I found in the living room. Our daughter thinks you are a giant. She asks you to lift the house, so she can put her dolls in timeout. There is a crack in the back of my mind and I am filling it up with forget-me-nots and sailor’s knots and do nots. There is a place behind my retina where I am fragile. If I see a sun, if I see a squid, if I see something shiny, I should pick it up. I should turn my head. I should stop watching you while you sleep because I am going to wake you up. I am going to wake up. I am sorry and you have gone to buy more mousetraps.

       A FIELD

      Once upon a time there was a fly. Once upon a time there was an ache shaped like a sunflower, at least to the eye. Once upon a time a field lay down in a patch of gods and got shot through the gut with cotton and wheat. Once upon a time all grass was seagrass and we swam, serrated by the blades of all known light.

       WE WILL BE LONG GONE

      By the time Earth is pulled into the sun. No, this won’t happen while you are asleep. Not tonight. Those are crickets. Yes, they have wings. The sound comes from their legs, like violins. Not violence. Close your eyes please. The sun is on the other side of the world because other people need day. Because we need night. Because that is how your body is made. Yes, your body is magic. Close your eyes please. The sun that went into your eyes, into your skin, into the ground today, will come up tomorrow. Yes, I’m pretty sure there are others. The moon is not the sun. Yes, they might be married. Goodnight.

       POSTCARD FROM THE END

      The СКАЧАТЬ