Tuesday, June 26, 2018

14th Street Gym


14th STREET GYM

Beauty that does not disguise the wound, 
but reads through the lack of it, 
the one-armed man lifts himself again

on the assisted pull-up machine—
sleeve of sparrows and morning glories
swelling with each upward pull.

In the locker room, I praise his ink
and he turns to thank me, and so I notice 
(what you can't restore, inscribe)

the blue wing needled on the socket. 

                   ~ Mark Doty

1 comment:

Susan said...

Love the imagery of this poem, Joe. Thank you for posting it. <3