Section 8

by Opie DeLetta
Wild Poetry Forum
First Place, August 2011
Judged by Tyehimba Jess


this was a prayer with unmade bed
shades drawn in the distance
dogs bark
children laugh
a rusted swing squeaks
as a rabbit limps in the road
a kitchen clock rewinds
every frame black
9mm glock on cracked glass
smoke curls on the oak floor
a list of dreams
thumb tacked at the door
ice cream truck
doppler song melts like
ferryboat lights in the yard
sleeping garden gnomes
in the distance
a young girl jumps rope
dogs bark
on a rusted chain
children swing
a rabbit in the road


Section 8 is an exercise in simplicity and gravity. The poem lets the scene tell the story and leaves the reader questioning the story all at once. The line breaks blur the distance between meanings, from the swinging children to the rabbit in the road. The poet understands the necessity of image. ---Tyehimba Jess