You Came with Shells
By June Jordan
You came with shells. And left them:
shells.
They lay beautiful on the table.
Now they lie on my desk
peculiar
extraordinary under 60 watts.
This morning I disturb I destroy the window
(and its light) by moving my feet
in the water. There.
It’s gone.
Last night the moon ranged from the left
to the right side
of the windshield. Only white lines
on a road strike me as
reasonable but
nevertheless and too often
we slow down for the fog.
I was going to say a natural environment
means this or
I was going to say we remain out of our
element or
sometimes you can get away completely
but the shells
will tell about the howling
and the loss
Notes:
From Directed by Desire: The Complete Poems of June Jordan (2005), Copper Canyon Press, © 2005, 2023, June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust. Reprinted by permission.
This poem is part of the portfolio “Our Way Home: June Jordan.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the November 2023 issue.
Source: Poetry (November 2023)