Poem for the Day
3 Feb
Today’s selection comes by kind permission from poet Todd Boss.
Ere We Are Aware
we err. We err
in open air, dare-
devil as a swallow’s
swerve. We err
with verve. Our errors serve
as bearings
as we flare and dive
and flounder.
We scare away our lovers
and declare
a territory where before
there wasn’t any.
Later we share our feelings.
Say we’re
sorry. Swear to be
more careful.
Oh, we show our showy words
like colors
and then, in a flurry of ever
rarer, ever
braver aerials, there
we are again,
famished birds wheeling
over burials.
{ Published June 2006 in POETRY Magazine }
Beautiful! This is one of my favorite poems in recent years.
For more of Todd’s work, visit his website, and be sure to pick up a copy of his critically-acclaimed debut collection of poetry, Yellowrocket.
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