Flood by Eliza Griswold
Flood
Eliza GriswoldI woke to a voice within the room. Perhaps.
The room itself: “You’re wasting this life
expecting disappointment.”
I packed my bag in the night
and peered in its leather belly
to count the essentials.
Nothing is essential.
To the east, the flood has begun.
Men call to each other on the water
for the comfort of voices.
Love surprises us.
It ends.
MARGINALIA
Work work work work work. But pauses are for poems.
ABOUT ELIZA GRISWOLD
Eliza Griswold is a poet and reporter whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, and the New Republic. Her books include the poetry collection Wideawake Field (2007) and the non-fiction title The Tenth Parallel (2010), which examines Christianity and Islam in Asia and Africa. In 2010, Griswold won the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome for her poetry, and in 2011, The Tenth Parallel received the Anthony J.
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ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: love • impermanence • awakening • Or browse the index
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