Reading
A searing circular saw slicing two-by-fours
in a neighboring apartment
under renovation
cuts
through
my reading, ends
of lines falling off like
short ends of sawed lumber.
Then an electric screwdriver
bores into my brain
while a hammer
taps
blunt
beats on my skull
so—with my reading
demolished—I decide to
build, in my mind, from
these sounds, the
apartment being
remade,
and
partitions go
up, and bookshelves
stretch plumb, and before long
I’m moving in with all
my stuff to a space
constructed from
what I read.
• • •
Mark Belair’s poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Alabama Literary Review, Harvard Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. Author of seven collections of poems, his most recent books are two works of fiction: Stonehaven (Turning Point, 2020) and its sequel, Edgewood (Turning Point, 2022). A new collection of poems entitled Settling In will be published soon by Kelsay Books. Please visit www.markbelair.com.