Cradle Song

By CODY WALKER

You’re just a baby,
And as such, may be
Susceptible to lies
(And wonder, and surprise):

Left is hither,
Hither is yon,
Santa Claus has a Santa mask on;
Right is backwards,
Backwards is broken;
Baby’s first words go unspoken:
You’re just a dad—
Spark-lit and sad—
And I’m you, in training,
And I’m gaining.

 

Cody Walker is the author of Shuffle and Breakdown. His work appears in Shenandoah, Parnassus, Slate, Subtropics, The Best American Poetry, The Yale Review, Light Quarterly, Poetry Northwest, and The Hecht Prize Anthology. Elected Seattle Poet Populist for 2007-2008, he lives in Ann Arbor and teaches English at the University of Michigan.

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Cradle Song

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The Ground That Walks

ALAA ALQAISI
We stepped out with our eyes uncovered. / Gaza kept looking through them— / green tanks asleep on roofs, a stubborn gull, / water heavy with scales at dawn. // Nothing in us chose the hinges to slacken. / The latch turned without our hands. / Papers practiced the border’s breath.