Out of Bed

They remove themselves, one after one, leaving

behind them hair ties, the yellow of love,

and salt abandonment. He becomes as sheer

as the wave's bell and as redundant. Returned

from the sexual sea he achieves degradation:

the overturned boat, blue hands clutching,

an angry tongue that specifies the drowned.

DONALD HALL lives on a farm in New Hampshire. He has published a dozen books of poetry, of which the most recent is Without.

Copyright World Poetry, Incorporated Jan/Feb 2002
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