Riveted by Robyn Sarah
Riveted
Robyn SarahIt is possible that things will not get better
than they are now, or have been known to be.
It is possible that we are past the middle now.
It is possible that we have crossed the great water
without knowing it, and stand now on the other side.
Yes: I think that we have crossed it. Now
we are being given tickets, and they are not
tickets to the show we had been thinking of,
but to a different show, clearly inferior.Check again: it is our own name on the envelope.
The tickets are to that other show.It is possible that we will walk out of the darkened hall
without waiting for the last act: people do.
Some people do. But it is probable
that we will stay seated in our narrow seats
all through the tedious denouement
to the unsurprising end— riveted, as it were;
spellbound by our own imperfect lives
because they are lives,
and because they are ours.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in A Day's Grace by Robyn Sarah, published by Porcupine's Quill, 2003. (Available on: Amazon • Bookshop)
DESCRIPTION
“Eric Ormsby wrote that `So assured and musical is the hand that shaped them that these poems tend to memorize themselves, as though they had always formed part of our experience.’ This is Sarah’s sixth full-length collection, marked by its humility, joy and philosophical elegance.” (Source)
ABOUT ROBYN SARAH
Robyn Sarah’s new poetry collection, Pause for Breath (Biblioasis), will be published in fall 2009; her last was A Day’s Grace (Porcupine’s Quill) in 2003. She lives in Montreal. (Source)
Read more poems by Robyn Sarah • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: acceptance • life • mortality • Or browse the index
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