Tony Hoagland's "Field Guide"

FIELD GUIDE


Once, in the cool blue middle of a lake,
up to my neck in the most precious element of all,


I found a pale-gray, curled-upwards pigeon feather
floating on the tension of the water


at the very instant when a dragonfly, 
like a blue-green iridescent bobby pin,


hovered over it, then lit, then rested.
That's all.


I mention this in the same way
that I fold the corner of a page


in certain library books,
so the the next reader will know


where to look for the good parts.

--Tony Hoagland,
Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty,
Graywolf Press: Minneapolis, MN, 2010.


This book was a gift from my friend Meredith, and I appreciate the giving and the given.