Tell it Slant

Have to sail at an angle,
never directly into the wind—

other things too—

can't look right at the sun,
the world, only visible
in the light that falls around it;

and in books as well,
the best drawn characters most often
evolve through indirection:

a lipstick smear on a collar,
contents of a bedroom drawer;

I imagine a single
two by twelve board
I need to lean against a barn—

it won't even stand unless
I place it at an angle.

I don't know how many other
things like this are true,

but I like trying
to see her words—

the tall right triangle the barn
and board create together,

the purple tufts of clover
slightly darker in the grass.

Copyright © 2008 Sally Bliumis-Dunn All rights reserved
from Poetry Kanto
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission