The Affair by Wayne Miller

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend June 11, 2014   The Affair   Wayne Miller

1 It was a desire to jump narratives— to find himself suddenly encircled by different lights in the distant hills. To find the hum of the engine conveying him forward had altered its tone. The self had to be asserted against that which seemed merely given: the body’s untranscendable location— to step outside it, outside what was visible in the mirror in the room. 2 He found himself threaded through the mouth by his only narrative, the body that held it propelling him forward through the dark, the light of that narrative reaching out to strike the ground before him in his only voice.              Copyright @ 2014 by Wayne Miller. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “‘The Affair’ arrived when I was repeatedly struck by two seemingly unrelated thoughts: (1) that we tend to explore the future—particularly the immediate future—with imagined, predictive narratives; and (2) that affairs are rarely about simple attraction. I managed to yoke together these ideas when I arrived at the image of the train, which initially the man seems to be riding Rabbit-style away from his marriage, but which soon becomes him as he barrels forward along the tracks of his life. My father had a number of affairs while I was growing up—something I’ve tried to understand more clearly and sympathetically than the simplifying narratives I’ve been told about him might generally allow for; this poem was, I believe, another attempt in that direction.” —Wayne Miller   Wayne Miller is the author of The City, Our City (Milkweed Editions, 2011). He teaches at the University of Colorado Denver, where he edits the literary journal Copper Nickel. Most Recent Book by Miller   The City, Our City (Milkweed Editions, 2011) “Ring” by Melissa Stein “Mag” by Carl Sandburg “Family Reunion” by Jeredith Merrin Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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