Matthew Murrey
Tusk
River revealed
it—big, pale curve
like a question mark
sticking out
of the riverbank--
and you were struck
by what’s what. Rivers
are all about water down
here and water up there
in the rivers of air:
scarcity yields scorched
earth, fields of no food.
Too much swells a deluge--
homes and whole lives
swept away. What’s
what is mammoth, is
as unbelievable as
miles-deep ice sheets,
as the last of a species
breathing its last.
Tusk tells a tale
of tall grass as far
and wide as they could
walk. They had no way
to change what was
changing, so lumbered
and ate their way
across a cold paradise
until it was neither.
And you—after river,
erosion, and revelation--
what are you going
to do (question mark)
River revealed
it—big, pale curve
like a question mark
sticking out
of the riverbank--
and you were struck
by what’s what. Rivers
are all about water down
here and water up there
in the rivers of air:
scarcity yields scorched
earth, fields of no food.
Too much swells a deluge--
homes and whole lives
swept away. What’s
what is mammoth, is
as unbelievable as
miles-deep ice sheets,
as the last of a species
breathing its last.
Tusk tells a tale
of tall grass as far
and wide as they could
walk. They had no way
to change what was
changing, so lumbered
and ate their way
across a cold paradise
until it was neither.
And you—after river,
erosion, and revelation--
what are you going
to do (question mark)
--
Matthew Murrey’s poems have appeared widely, most recently in Split Rock Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and Rust + Moth. He’s an NEA Fellowship recipient, and his collection, Bulletproof, was published in 2019 by Jacar Press. He was a public school librarian for over twenty years and lives in Urbana, Illinois with his partner; they have two grown sons.
Matthew Murrey’s poems have appeared widely, most recently in Split Rock Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and Rust + Moth. He’s an NEA Fellowship recipient, and his collection, Bulletproof, was published in 2019 by Jacar Press. He was a public school librarian for over twenty years and lives in Urbana, Illinois with his partner; they have two grown sons.