One Big Self. C.D. Wright

      Note to the Reader

      Copper Canyon Press encourages you to calibrate your settings by using the line of characters below, which optimizes the line length and character size:

      Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque

      Please take the time to adjust the size of the text on your viewer so that the line of characters above appears on one line, if possible.

      When this text appears on one line on your device, the resulting settings will most accurately reproduce the layout of the text on the page and the line length intended by the author. Viewing the title at a higher than optimal text size or on a device too small to accommodate the lines in the text will cause the reading experience to be altered considerably; single lines of some poems will be displayed as multiple lines of text. If this occurs, the turn of the line will be marked with a shallow indent.

      Thank you. We hope you enjoy these poems.

       This e-book edition was created through a special grant provided by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Copper Canyon Press would like to thank Constellation Digital Services for their partnership in making this e-book possible.

       With lasting gratitude to Deborah Luster and to Jack Woody, and to the men and women of East Carroll Parish Prison Farm, Transylvania; Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, St. Gabriel; and Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola.

      God was pleased by the good he did and we pray his mercy for the wrong

      The lone epitaph at Point Lookout Cemetery, Angola. Released from prison, Charles C. Hawell died in January, nineteen and thirty-four, at thirty-four years of age, and as stipulated in his will was brought back inside for burial.

      Contents

        Title Page

        Note to Reader

      1  Stripe for Stripe

      2  Count your fingers

      3  Count heads.

      4  I want to go home,

      5  If I were you:

      6  Beinvenu en Louisiane

      7  My Dear Conflicted Reader,

      8  On the road to Angola:

      9  On the road to St. Gabriel:

      10  On Privacy

      11  On the Lessening of Free-World Ties

      12  My Dear Affluent Reader,

      13  Prepare to exit the forest

      14  Dear Dying Town,

      15  Dialing Dungeons for Dollars

      16  Modern Times

      17  Black Is the Color

      18  Wednesdays were important for Faith

      19  Why has the feld line started so late

      20  Dear Unbidden, Unbred,

      21  Mack trapped a spider

      22  Dear night dear shade dear executioner

      23  Dear Prisoner,

      24  Poster, women’s prison:

      25  Count your notches

      26  First Memory

      27  Why, good morning Miss Toliver, how are you

      28  Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit

      29  Come on down,

      30  Leaving St. Gabriel:

      31  Why does it take so goddamn long—

      32  Just Another Day

      33  Body Language

      34  Dear Child of God,

      35  Lines of Defense Including

      36  Count her bruises and contusions

      37  After the Housefire

      38  Weapon of Opportunity

      39  Enters a silence that never reverses itself

      40  Dear Errant Kid,

      41  Dear Virtual Lifer,

      42