Draft of a Landscape
after Paul Celan
The hare’s
dust pelt
against the juniper’s sky
now
in the eye uncovered
a question clear
in the wing
of the day and the predator
that writes
the animal’s luck, too.
Where is tomorrow?
Will tomorrow be beautiful?
Someone will answer.
Someone will remember
that dustcolored
tragedy, incidental, belonging
to no one, arriving before
as a flock of cranes
protracted in a long descent
winging blind
to field—the days
are beautiful.
Copyright © 2016 by Juliet Patterson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 11, 2016, by the Academy of American Poets.
“‘Draft of a Landscape’ uses Paul Celan’s poem 'In The Daylight' and loosely follows the rules of the Golden Shovel, an acrostic form created by Terrance Hayes. The words from Celan’s poem appear as the last word in the lines of the poem, but not in exact order. The title of the poem is also from Celan.”
—Juliet Patterson
Juliet Patterson
Juliet Patterson is the author of Threnody (Nightboat Books, 2016), forthcoming in October.