Poetry
Westerfield, Nancy G.
Nancy G. Westerfield Goes with the Territory Comes with the territory, your ten fingers. Ten toes, nine orifices, the whole rattan Of your bones, that wickerwork slat-woven To sit, stand, handle...
...Ten toes, nine orifices, the whole rattan Of your bones, that wickerwork slat-woven To sit, stand, handle other erector-set Toys like yourself: and then your territorial Claims: poaching to enlarge on what you already Own, your invasions, encroachments, retreats...
...Call it your territory, narrowly or grandly Defined, until sharply the clinical cartographer Who maps your losses in territorial wars, Reminds you that death has been X-rayed Entering borders you held unapproachable, Reminds you that what comes with the territory Eventually, through truce and surrender, goes...
Vol. 122 • February 1995 • No. 3
