#MIDDLEBURY
Causing an Accident
Sarah Bartlett
The moon builds its tower
Sisyphean project
Like a velvet landscape
a velvet Elvis above the booth
I want to arrive this way
like resurrection
in front of you but not
Casual on a curb
trapped in a beam
almost crossing in front
of every moving vehicle
A long pause
A breath
Skin feathered over bone
silvering and bright
We want it to happen this way
A sudden capitulation
giving way to flesh
The secret plot revealed
Innocent face with eyes wide
whites showing
before the bump
I ride in my body’s hearse
We are circling the block
We are made entirely
by confiscation
We are waiting
for love to save us
something borrowed
an oxymoron
or absolute truth
About this poem
“I wanted to write a poem that examined the fine line between salvation and disaster, specifically in the rare moment when love arrives. For me, it’s always a hot tangle – a little shocking, a little beautiful and a little cataclysmic.” – Sarah Bartlett
About Sarah Bartlett
Sarah Bartlett is the author of “Sometimes We Walk With Our Nails Out” (Subito Press, 2016). She lives in Portland, Ore.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
(c) 2016 Sarah Bartlett. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
