The Divine Dictator

The world's best teen librarian resides in Berkeley, CA. Her name is Debbie Carton, and her nickname is the Divine Dictator, mostly for whipping teens into one-act-play performing machines. and many years ago she gave me a book titled "Americans' Favorite Poems", an anthology compiled from submissions. I don't care for every piece in it, but every time I open it, I find a new poet that I didn't notice before.

Mansion

So it came time
for me to cede myself
and I chose
the wind
to be delivered to

The wind was glad
and said it needed all
the body
it could get
to show its motions with

and wanted to know
willingly as I hoped it would
if it could do
something in return
to show its gratitude

When the tree of my bones
rises from the skin I said
come and whirlwinding
stroll my dust
around the plain

so I can see
how the ocotillo does
and how the saguaro wren is
and when you fall
with evening

fall with me here
where we can watch
the closing up of day
and think how the morning breaks

-A. R. Ammons