Second Poem of the Day

"Special Orders" by Edward Hirsch.

SPECIAL ORDERS

Give me back my father walking the halls
of Wertheimer Box and Paper Company
with sawdust clinging to his shoes.

Give me back his tape measure and his keys,
his drafting pencil and his order forms;
give me his daydreams on lined paper.

I don't understand this uncontainable grief.
Whatever you had that never fit,
whatever else you needed, believe me,

my father, who wanted your business,
would squat down at your side
and sketch you a container for it.

--Edward Hirsch

I love this poem. I don't think I need to say anything else about it. Tell me you aren't moved beyond the belief by those last two stanzas. "This uncontainable grief." "Whatever you had that never fit, whatever else you needed..." Oh. Buy this book today. It even looks great (Bravo, jacket designer Jason Booher!). Seriously, this is an incredible poem. I read it downstairs, on the sales floor, quickly, twice, and I had a bit of a moment. I read it a few more times upstairs, at my desk, surrounded by all my work stuff, and had a greater moment. Just a great poem. The Elegant Variation agrees with me. Tell me what you think of it.

NOTE: Blogger has trouble with formatting poetry. Please, please check this book out and see how the poem actually looks on the page. I apologize for not being able to accurately reproduce it here.