Danielle Peterson

the combat never evolves and that's all well
and good, for they are fine fellows, we
need them like we need the Sierra Madre mountains
choking behind us in the smog, like we need
WIllie Shoemaker legging it up on just
one more winner, and we need them to help us
forget all the things that haven't worked out for us
in the past, especially all the bad bets.
what counts is to endure, what counts
is not to remember that the whole western slope
of the U.S.A. is going to fall in the Pacific Ocean
one day soon
and htat there was never any real need to cultivate your
garden or to send your daughter to
Radcliffe.