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Simple Things
by JoSelle Vanderhooft

Such simple things,
a bone, a nerve,
a snail shell cochlea,
a red heart like a leaf
make a body.

So simply does it move:
a step, a stop,
a look, a hesitation,
a sinew and skin sweep
along its path.

Such simple things,
a cough, an ague,
a crab-claw tumor,
a cell-spreading virus  
make an end.

So simply does it happen:
a step, a stumble,
a tremor, a blink,
a sighing into air
from this bright promontory.

Ossuary (Sam's Dot Publishing, 2007)

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