Ira Sadoff

BY THE MEADOWS OF HAY BALES

By the meadows of hay bales

and daffodils, of corn husk and pig shit,

I lived in a forgettable little hamlet

in sincere Ohio. When I wished those scents

could take me back to my temple out of town —

the pinewoods of the 19th century —

I forget, in my retreat from the world, I was

already gloomy, choosing the company

of insects and voles, friends of the invisible.

There I was spared the satisfactions

of purse and purse string. A good plan

to live by: I survived a tornado, a marriage,

and a war, laughing at my local cosmos,

a leveled panorama of stone and clay.

A little heaven with no one near.

Many loved the sheen of cheerfulness

but my scalpel and I, we made a face there.

Author: Ira Sadoff

Ira Sadoff’s the author of eight collections of poetry, most recently COUNTRY, LIVING (Alice James,2020) and TRUE FAITH (BOA Editions, 2012). He’s published a novel, UNCOUPLING, THE IRA SADOFF READER, and HISTORY MATTERS (U.of Iowa Press), a critical book on poetry and culture. He’s been widely anthologized and awarded grants from the Guggenheim Fellowship and the NEA. Poems and an interview appear in the new issue of BRILLIANT CORNERS. He lives in a stone cottage in Ulster County, New York.

Plume: Issue #58 May 2016