The Bottom Shelf Review

Winner of the William and Ivy Saylor Prize 2016

Leaning over

this desk,

you would think

I was all marble;

statue of a man

lost in contemplation,

carved out to be

timeless.

But there are hues

of purple, Olympic

rings under each

eye that make

marathons of the

circles my head is

spinning, the lamplight

torch that never

burns out though

my limbs and will

are ready to give,

breath heavy from

taking strides,

the deadlines

spur me on.

A horse will run

until it dies.