Narragansett

By Jordan Davis

This article appeared in the October 12, 2009 edition of The Nation.

September 23, 2009

The complete sentence narrates a satisfying process.
It closes and opens like a clam.
I take a knife to the sentence and start my evening at the raw bar.
It is hard work, and the sentences would prefer to be in the ocean.
I would rather be a patron of this establishment.
Someone over my shoulder
Would rather know I am going to continue to put up with his stuff.
It is not a wide receiver, his stuff. It is his development,
Which is gradual. It involves testing me. Sometimes
These tests take the form of imperatives. Drive onto the boat!
The boat would rather be en route to Maine.
It is an ambitious ferry. My knife wishes to whittle patterns
Into the enormous picnic table. Art does not narrate.

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About Jordan Davis

Jordan Davis's poems have appeared recently in Fence, Gulf Coast, Northwest Review and The Nation. more...
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