A Poem by Ron Mohring

Author: Poetry Editor

December 21, 2017

This week, a poem by Ron Mohring.

 

Damage

 

What are you thinking? he asks suddenly, and I realize
I’ve been doing it again, staring at him, trying to figure
a way to—Nothing, I say. Sorry, I say, and get up
to busy myself, wash a few dishes, fold some laundry,
take the whisk broom from its hook and clear away
the silky sock the wolfy spider spins each night
in the sill. It’s there, watching me erase its labor.
I don’t want to harm this creature. Can’t make it
move on. How much longer can we live this way?

——

RON MOHRING is the indefatigable force behind Seven Kitchens Press. His book, Survivable World, won the Washington Prize years ago and is still a good read. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.