Poem-A-Day: The Hammers by Jericho Brown

Guest Editor: Marilyn Nelson, Academy of American Poets Chancellor, March 21, 2014 The Hammers by Jericho Brown      They sat on the dresser like anything I put in my pocket before leaving The house.  I even saw a few tiny ones Tilted against the window of my living Room, little metal threats with splinters For handles.  They leaned like those Teenage boys at the corner who might Not be teenage boys because they ask For dollars in the middle Of the April dayand because they knock At 10 a.m.  Do I need help lifting some- Thing heavy?  Yard work?  I wondered If only I saw the hammers.  The teenage Boys visiting seemed not to care that They lay on the floor lit by the TV.  I'd have covered them up with rugs, With dry towels and linen, but their claw And sledge and ball-peen heads shone In the dark, which is, at least, a view In the dark.  And their handles meant My hands, striking surfaces, getting Shelves up, finally.  One stayed In my tub, slowing the drain.  I found Another propped near the bulb In the refrigerator.  Wasn't I hungry?  Why have them there if I could not Use them, if I could not look at my own Reflection in the mirror and take one To the temple and knock myself out?     Copyright © 2014 by Jericho Brown. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem  "This poem comes from my recent attempts at making greater use of the metonym rather than the metaphor. Also, I'm asking myself new questions about how to allow poems I love to influence my writing. 'The Hammers' was written after asking myself, 'What if 'We Real Cool' were a horror film?'" --Jericho Brown  Most Recent Book by Brown       The New Testament (Copper Canyon Press, 2014)               Poem-A-Day Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-A-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Browse the Poem-A-Day Archive.     Jericho Brown is the author of The New Testament, forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press in September 2014. He currently teaches at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Related Poems Before You Came by Faiz Ahmed Faiz  Atlantis--A Lost Sonnet by Eavan Boland  The Helmet by A. F. Moritz  __________________________ Love reading Poem-A-Day? Help support it today.     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.

Forward this email This email was sent to prentice654.allsms@blogger.com by academy@poets.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Academy of American Poets | 75 Maiden Lane | Suite 901 | New York | NY | 10038