From the Prompter's Box

By Alfred Corn

This article appeared in the June 7, 2004 edition of The Nation.

May 20, 2004

Those first-nights when I see my charge's panic,
And, in quick whispers, slip him mislaid lines,
Untangled recognition scenes will light
A face, inflected sense revive a flagging
Voice; and my inner rating service smiles.

No. No, the program never credits Prompter.
The same as nursing, ours is a self-reliant
Calling regarded as its own reward...
Although, in fairness, the brightest stars remember
To breathe a private "thank you" at the curtain.

Just like a turntable set, sight lines shiftedv The day I gazed at that smooth slab of his--
The Unknown Soldier, who then began to prompt:
Mobilized for an afterlife of marble,
I'm bunked here in a tomb not granted those

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About Alfred Corn

Alfred Corn's newest collection of poems, Contradictions, will be published next year (2002) by Copper Canyon Press. more...
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