24 February 2008 | Vol. 7, No. 4
Packing List
Washed from my hands
a thin film after shelving
jars filled with leeches the pond
lilies green stems so when
the time comes to extract
bad blood mixing with the good
I feel nothing but their teeth
until I finger them to the floor
& they curl like autumn leaves
at the pond's edge where a boy tosses
a box turtle thirty feet into the air
& I might remember the sound of it
landing on rocks I gathered wood
to burn in the fire I might
just remember the fire.
About the author:
Rob Schlegel's poems and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in the Boston Review, Colorado Review, VOLT, Pleiades, Barrow Street, and AGNI. His recent collaborations with the poet Allison Titus can be found in Diode.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Rob Schlegel at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 7, No. 4, where "Packing List" ran on February 24, 2008. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
