A Grace

A Grace

Original Text

Wayne Clifford. An Ache in the Ear. Toronto, Ontario: Coach House Press, 1979.

1I’m tracing my ancestry to coal.
2The line is exacting; it runs back thru
3the life smell on my hands while I eat
4making the taste of the meat not
5what was meant by the beast it grew
6to. The arithmetic of living, as it
7burns down, implies a continuation
8in the counting. The space between
9one to one. I try on some skulls of anthracite.
10None fit. My family is living on its own.
RPO poem Editors
Jim Johnstone
RPO Edition
2013
Special Copyright

Poem used with permission of the author.