[lit-ideas] Re: Monday Poem

On the Floor


In a particular room in the San Juan Islands
where academics gather each year
a pregnant silence
prepares us for the talks
of the Columbia History of Science conference.

"Please," the host said one year, at the outset,
"try to avoid scraping the floor; it has been re-finished."
Foolishly I looked down, and was blinded by the sun's late light.

Now that the floor is once again tarnished,
scraped beyond belief,
you can easily see what comes of history:
tracks and a circular key.

David Ritchie
Portland, Oregon

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