The Trailer Park (by Anne Simpson)

The Trailer Park (by Anne Simpson)

Original Text
Anne Simpson, Loop (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2003). This poem is reproduced on the Griffin Prize Web Site (from the winning volume on the 2004 Canadian Shortlist).
1Near the bridge in the trailer park,
2a man sets up a tent, fumbling in the dark.
3A woman unrolls the sleeping bag. They unzip,
4shed themselves--a loosening shrug--
5step inside each other. Breath:
6fingering: blind:
7quick. Body shudders,
8stuns with its liquid, its cool--
9they step back out. It’s very still.
10Breath after breath. One thing
11draws another. Gently, so gently,
12he puts his head against her ribs,
13opening a shutter in her skin to look
14inside: cathedrals of space, wandering
15planets, aisle upon aisle
16of stars. She summons all that’s there.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2011