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The Whole of It

 

This first hot day, under an apple tree,

I feel you as a single drop of sweat

That slips along the middle of my back,

Along my spine, and traces me upon

Some magic paper that could take a man

And make him known, in no particulars,

Just known—as a land for its geography,

But where no valley, town, or mountain could

Explain the whole of it.  I know, and yet,

This one wet fingertip of yours could map

Exactly what I am, and what might be,

And make each blossom hum above my head.

 

Robert Crawford

 

 

© 2001; originally printed in The Formalist.
Reprinted by permission of the author.
 

Background by
Purple Woods

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