Labels
Posted by: randal <randal@...>
http://www.cloudburstpoetry.com
Copyright (c) 2005, J. Randal Matheny
Wow! A day early! Pattin' myself on the back!
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LABELS
by J. Randal Matheny
I peeled the address labels from the sheet
in automatic movements timed for speed,
the hand by now accustomed to repeat
the peel-and-press, a hopeful sowing of seed,
of names and numbers, wooded streets and towns.
And then a glitch! A label out of place!
A seed in the ditch! Those wrinkled, tumbled nouns
could not remain in disarrayed disgrace.
But as I pulled the label, thinking to set
it right, I tore the paper underneath;
the permanent glue refused to let
it go, held fast with a pitbull's jaw and teeth.
In labeling men, the worst is not the word that pricks,
but that, once said and done, the label sticks.
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