By Karl Plank
the remembrance of them
is planted in my tongue
like barbwire
comes out of my mouth
like the ripping of soft tissue
bleeds incarnadine
like the stain of seas
made red
like roses and carnations
in funeral wreaths of sorrow
like the regret we feel
when losing what is dear
like the time before days became grave-
bearing weight
like all that is grievous unto us.
Karl Plank is the author of A Field, Part Arable (Lithic, 2017) and the critical work, The Fact of the Cage: Reading and Redemption in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (Routledge, 2021). His poetry has appeared in publications such as Beloit Poetry Journal, Tahoma Literary Review, St. Katherine’s Review, and Zone 3, and has been featured on Poetry Daily. He is the J.W. Cannon Professor of Religion at Davidson College.