as dictionary. Silent as the word
book. Unabridged. Not the kind
you carry in your back pocket. You
must go home to stand agape before
that hand-hewn cherry wood table
lit by rainbow of abalone glass
holding all the words, a sketch of starlings
flooding the Iowa plains just before
snow falls. At your fingertips. Dog
ear me. Highlight. Memorize. How
long it took to write the first
Oxford English Dictionary?
Seventy years. An almost life-
time to gather precise meaning. Unused
words kicked to the curb for rubbish
pick-up. I've thrown away so much. Once
I said the right thing and you leaned forward
so quickly I couldn't uncross my arms. Crack
my spine to find crumbs and new
adjectives. This is my body for you
to find your way. Pluck
grace notes like the guitarist
on the green that summer
before the great migration.
