Opportunities for Stasis

Kay Ryan sits very near the top of contemporary poetry’s list of “must-read” writers. Sure, recommending a two-term former Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author should come as no surprise. But Ryan is also a poet to present to those who have no relationship with poetry.

Her work has many layers, and perhaps only seasoned readers will reach the deepest ones. Yet, the first surfaces of her poems are touchable. By no means facile, her work is quick to convey a mood. This might be due to the fact that, as she’s said in the past, her poems develop “the way an oyster does, with an aggravation.” And everyone can relate to aggravations.

For me, the poem below conveys the suspense of a move. In a few lines, it narrates the small household chores one focuses on before a move so as to ignore the finality of leaving. One counts the forks and the spoons, but doesn’t envision getting the bed down the stairs.

LINENS

There are charms

that forestall harm.

The house bristles

with opportunities

for stasis: refolding

the linens along

their creases, keeping

the spoons and chairs

in their right places.

Nobody needs to

witness one’s exquisite

care with the napkins

for the napkins

to have been the act

that made the fact

unhappen.