National Poetry Month: Jean Valentine

"Time is matter here"

Jean Valentine

Time is matter here

The freight train

I saw in the morning

still in the evening

inching across the flatlands

word after slow word

too many to count

And you are matter—

your eyes, your long legs,

slow breath sometimes catching

in your sleep, your head

resting against the bus window,

tired horse,

tired rider

This poem appeared in Jean Valentine's 2010 collection Break the Glass, which was nominated for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for poetry.