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Column 584

Offering

Intro by Ted Kooser
05.29.2016

Faced by a loss, and per­haps by a loss of words, many of us find some­thing to do with our hands. Here’s a poem about just that by Arden Levine, pub­lished in 2015 in an issue of Agni Mag­a­zine. Ms. Levine lives in New York.

Offering

She tells him she's leaving him and he
bakes a pie. His pies are exquisite,
their crusts like crinoline.

He doesn't change clothes, works
in slacks, shirtsleeves rolled.
Summer makes the kitchen unbearable

but he suffers beautifully, tenderly
cuts the strawberries, pours
into the deep curve of the bowl.

She hadn't missed his hands since
last they drew her to his body.
Now she watches them stroke the edges

of the dough, shape it like cooling glass.
When the oven opens, his brow drips,
he brings his hands to his face.
 

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Disclaimer

We do not accept unsolicited submissions

We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2015 by Arden Levine, “Offering,” (AGNI Magazine, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Arden Levine and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.

Column 583