Does Poetry Matter?

Chris Bursk

American poetry belongs to a subculture.  No longer part
of the mainstream of artistic and intellectual life,
it has become the specialized occupation of a relatively
small and isolated group.
                                                                  Dana Gioia

I am alone.
I lie next to stone

a man writes in the notebook he takes everywhere
in jail, a boy really,
this shy, earnest twenty-two-year-old
who never seems comfortable
sitting---as if he’s not yet used to the large, gangly body
that’s grown around him.

You’ve got to believe me.
I never before lifted a hand to anyone.  Never.

Now he goes nowhere without paper and pen,
rhymes everything.  Everything
is a sonnet.  He likes to hear the couplet
click shut like a door
only he has keys for.  He listens for the final word,
its prompt and perfect justice.

I am alone.
I lie down next to stone.










From Cell Count by Chris Bursk, Texas Tech University Press, 1997.  Originally appeared in Poetry.  Copyright © Chris Bursk, 1997. Used by permission of the poet and Texas Tech University Press.