Carl Phillips

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Rough Surf in Moonlight

            As for power, it won’t be won, I think,
by restraint this time. Power that shifts like a ripped
            page blown about in traffic. Page torn from some
rare and patiently illuminated manuscript: excerpts
            from paradise; angels depicted as hammers of bronze
thrown skyward – though no hand visible –
            and staying there. For a moment, pursuit seems
no better or worse a strategy than retreat. I believe
            the real sorrow, when it comes, will not be this one.

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CARL PHILLIPS is the author, most recently, of Star Map with Action Figures (Sibling Rivalry, 2019) and Pale Colors in a Tall Field (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2020).