#MIDDLEBURY
Draft of a Landscape
Juliet Patterson
after Paul Celan
The hare’s
dust pelt
against the juniper’s sky
now
in the eye uncovered
a question clear
in the wing
of the day and the predator
that writes
the animal’s luck, too.
Where is tomorrow?
Will tomorrow be beautiful?
Someone will answer.
Someone will remember
that dustcolored
tragedy, incidental, belonging
to no one, arriving before
as a flock of cranes
protracted in a long descent
winging blind
to field – the days
are beautiful.
About this poem
“‘Draft of a Landscape’ uses Paul Celan’s poem “In the Daylight” and loosely follows the rules of the golden shovel, an acrostic form created by Terrance Hayes. The words from Celan’s poem appear as the last word in the lines of the poem, but not in exact order. The title of the poem is also from Celan.” – Juliet Patterson
About Juliet Patterson
Juliet Patterson is the author of “Threnody” (Nightboat Books, 2016), forthcoming in October. She teaches at St. Olaf College and lives in Minneapolis.
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 Juliet Patterson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
