Look by Solmaz Sharif

Solmaz Sharif reads the poem "Lay" from her first book of poetry, Look, published in July by Graywolf Press.

LAY    

down
to sleep then
to rest last night
to waste before
across a stretcher
across a shoulder
over a leg
beneath an arm
in a shroud
in a crib
on top of a car
chained to a bumper
beneath a bridge
in the fountain
in the Tigris
under water boiled from smart bombs
in a cellar
in backseat of car counting streetlamps strobing overhead
under bomblets
under tendrils of phosphorus
in a burnt silhouette
on a cot
under a tent
still holding your breath
beneath dining table
beneath five stories
in a hole

“Lay” from Look. Copyright © 2016 by Solmaz Sharif. Reprinted with the permission of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.