Oversight by Melissa Ginsburg

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend July 2, 2015   Oversight   Melissa Ginsburg

Our subjects were nice. We kept   our distance. We brewed detachment in bottles. “We kept our distance”   is an anecdote. Her name   is Anecdote. She was born in the study. Cages, bottles. Books all around.   She was our favorite / forbid us   to see her. She was the muse for the bottles marked “Distance”   from which we drank. Could not   get by without. We buried the results; they were dead. It was painless   for us. Thanks   to detachment. Our hypothesis held up a snapshot. Braces, barrettes.            Copyright © 2015 by Melissa Ginsburg. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “‘Oversight’ uses the language of psychological experiments to talk about the ways our desire for knowledge can obfuscate reality. The speakers here are imaginary scientists. They are worried about objectivity, about what is truly knowable and provable. The human desire for facts might require an element of cruelty.” —Melissa Ginsburg   Melissa Ginsburg is the author of Dear Weather Ghost (Four Way Books, 2013). She teaches at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Poetry by Ginsburg   Dear Weather Ghost (Four Way Books, 2013) "The Matador of Metaphor" by David Lehman "there is no flash" by Metta Sáma "This is My Call for Apologies" by Amy Lingafelter Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038