Tramp
[An excerpt from Fanny Howe’s 2005 chapbook, Tramp, which was the first in the Vallum Chapbook Series. This chapbook is out of print, but is available as a digital copy.]
I.
It’s the summer solstice
The day the darkening begins
If I keep walking west I can precede this time again
In a year. Not much stamina
Foot-shoes sore
Passing war after war
between ad nauseam errors
Unsure of which was after
And which is before
II.
If I can just keep walking
It will not be now
But next
If I can stay with the gravity
That troubles the sea you’ll see
I will come to that day
Now I can taste its goodness
Without me
III.
After the solstice
Has passed, the days contract
New green grays
And I’m off again
To those I would die for
Please be patient
It’s summer somewhere
I hear good things
Fanny Howe has written numerous books of poetry and fiction, including the recent collection of stories, Economics. Her recent collection of poetry, On The Ground, was shortlisted for the Griffin Prize. She is a past recipient of the Lenore Marshall Award for Poetry and of a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in New England.
