Doug Ramspeck

the old men climb a flight of stairs to go to bed

& so they step up & up    their legs stiffening into ancient stones
the years veiled over & pleated     their hair like ghost heads
of dandelions     & as they rise they imagine the ascent
as one more sagging death march     mute as the splinters
on the wooden railings     & when they reach their beds
they dream that the world outside the house is a kind
of fallen harmony     & maybe their wives lie beside them
like dropped petals     & maybe there is a thorn in the skin
of the night sky beyond the windows     something hooked & howling
& come morning they stand at the top of the stairs & imagine
that each step downward is like waiting for fruit to fall

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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.