First Things RSS Feed - Susan McLean

Instructions for Climbing and Descending

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Good foot goes to heaven; bad foot goes to hell.
When every step torments and pain is chronic,
you can’t do as you did before you fell

and sprained your ankle. As the tendons swell,
don’t make things even worse. Learn this mnemonic:
good foot goes to heaven; bad foot goes to hell.

Take one step at a time. Do not rebel
or grumble that restrictions are moronic.
You can’t do as you did. Before you fell,

you used to bound up stairs like a gazelle,
but now your gait is nearly catatonic:
good foot goes to heaven; bad foot goes to hell.

You’ve always known it doesn’t help to dwell
on loss. You should let go, but (how ironic!)
you can’t. Do as you did before you fell,

but try to play it safe while getting well.
The best advice is simple, yet Miltonic:
good foot goes to heaven; bad foot goes to hell.
You can’t do as you did before. You fell.

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On Hesperus at Confession

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

When Hesperus was making his confession
of sins, according to the sacred rite,
the careful priest explored his conscience, asking
questions on every kind of sin he might
have done”among them, had he, like the pagans,
ever believed in demons? He replied,
“What! Do I believe in demons, Father?
I barely believe in God, hard as I’ve tried.”

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Reaping the Wind

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The giants swing their triple arms or poise,
frozen like hazmat signs, on every hill:
alien prayer wheels of unending noise
or monuments to birds and bats they kill;
Shivas, whose dance preserves us and destroys
a landscape that no longer can stand still.

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