Doug Ramspeck

signs

after their father dies they see his boots
overturned by the barn     deer prints

in the shape of his eyes      a mummery
of clouds     & the grass come winter

becomes a tabletop of snow     & the boys hold
their breaths & think     death is a moon

with a stationary dance     & they listen
to an emission of crow calls from the fields

the days thrashing like catfish dragged
to the bank     & they dream their father

buried hard as a bulb in the earth     as stiff
as his clothes still waiting in his closet

the weeks as fragile as discarded snakeskins
& the boys imagine death as a weigh station

or a hawk hanging crucified in air     & the boys
think     last fall the trees coughed & the acorns

dropped into the yard     & the boys think     death
is a train in the distance     one you hear but cannot see

& their father whispers in their thoughts
i wish i could bring you here to join me

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Doug Ramspeck is the author of seven poetry collections, one collection of short stories, and a novella. One recent book, Black Flowers, is published by LSU Press. Five books have received awards: Distant Fires (Grayson Books Poetry Prize), The Owl That Carries Us Away (G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction), Original Bodies (Michael Waters Poetry Prize), Mechanical Fireflies (Barrow Street Press Poetry Prize) and Black Tupelo Country (John Ciardi Prize for Poetry). His poems have appeared in journals that include The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, Slate and The Georgia Review. He is a three-time recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award.