Summer Grass (by Roo Borson)
1The willows are thinking again about thickness,
2slowness, lizard skin on hot rock,
3and day by day this imaging transforms them
4into what we see: dragons in leaf, draped scales
5alongside the river of harried, spring-stirred silt.
6The magpie recites Scriabin in early morning as a mating song,
7and home is just a place you started out,
8the only place you still know how to think from,
The rest of the poem cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions.Publication Notes:
Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Towards Oishida (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2004).
" target="_blank">This
poem is reproduced on the Griffin Prize Web Site (from the winning volume on the Canadian Shortlist 2005).
RPO poem Editors:
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition:
2011