Desk
after Tusiata Avia
Ask the god to tidy your drawer
neat enough that your life is in order
Ask it to arrange you
Ask it to sort you out
Ruler, stapler
Hole punch, glue
Ask it to stick things back together
Ask it to fasten your days
Ask the god for right angles
Ask the god for the right angles
Make it straighten stuff
Make it equally measure
Then put your life away
Then close your life
…
Paul Stephenson was a Jerwood/Arvon mentee. He has published three pamphlets: Those People (Smith/Doorstop), The Days that Followed Paris (HappenStance) and Selfie with Waterlilies (Paper Swans Press) and his debut collection is due next year. He co-curates Poetry in Aldeburgh and lives between Cambridge and Brussels.
atriumpoetry.com 