Doug Ramspeck

Rented Rooms

Or now these fleshy fields beyond the river,

the body before the body, one more slipknot

of longing. And if the clouds are rented tombs,

and if, at night, the emptied chalices

of stars, a thrumming in the chest

that feels drawn taut as piano wire. And when

breaths collect in the chest’s heat, and heat

is a vision, we step into tall grass that insinuates

its way around disappearing legs.

Doug Ramspeck is the author of nine poetry collections, one collection of short stories, and a novella. His most recent book, Blur, received the Tenth Gate Prize. Individual poems have appeared in journals that include The Southern Review, Kenyon Review, Slate, and The Georgia Review. He is a three-time recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award.