And I am so, so happy to get to read
one of my favorite poems of Susan's from the book, Utopia
Minus.
The title is the name of a Russian critic of Putin's
regime, who defected to the UK.
And in the UK, he was poisoned with polonium,
a radioactive compound, and died.
Alexander Litvinenko
I found a billiard ball in the dirt next to the driveway
A tear off, a throwaway, a non-sequitur awaiting me
this good-natured morning
Beside the neighbor's rusted fence post
Inside her yard, I found room for all of us
Move the planter to the steps
Watch the snow melt from the eaves
Can someone reach the wind chimes?
Cleared their throat as if beginning a ceremony?
We sip unstable atoms in every cup of tea
The fields of ice melt at the polar caps
Find a blanket to lay upon them
A lead thick thing like those thrown over a lap
by an X-ray technician before he slips from the room
Flips a switch, a circuit completed
Broken bones as white as a silence,
As when returning from work,
We reach the top of the stairs
Call out, is anyone home?
Every day another source of heat expires
Bones from another century
Winter bends the porch flowers
Stills the wind chimes
Kills the vine growing through the chain link
If you swallow the right pill, your blood
will glow inside of you
If they inject the right dye, it is
possible to perceive any corporeal surface
A customs agent flashing his light beneath our car,
checking the contents
Where do you want to see?
Imagine watching your own blood switch back its course
Round a bend, remake its banks
There by the river in the darkest soil
we might build a city
Erect a barbed wire fence
Use any means to defend it.
Please welcome Raquel, who will introduce Susan Briante.
[APPLAUSE]