Radical

by Marianne Moore 1887 – 1972

Tapering

to a point, conserving everything,

this carrot is predestined to be thick.

The world is

but a circumstance, a mis-

erable corn-patch for its feet. With ambition,

imagination, outgrowth,

nutriment,

with everything crammed belligerent-

ly inside itself, its fibres breed mon-

opoly —

a tail-like, wedge-shaped engine with the

secret of expansion, fused with intensive heat

to the color of the set-

ting sun and

stiff. For the man in the straw hat, stand-

ing still and turning to look back at it —

as much as

to say my happiest moment has

been funereal in comparison with this, the con-

ditions of life pre-

determined

slavery to be easy and freedom hard. For

it? Dismiss

agrarian lore; it tells him this:

that which it is impossible to force, it is

impossible to hinder.

Mentioned in this episode:

One Poem Only submissions are open.

I’m filling the next chapter of One Poem Only and would love to include your work. Send me the poem you wrote and want the world to hear. New this round: if you’d like to read your own poem on the podcast, you can. No need for a perfect studio recording—just a clear audio file recorded in a quiet space. If you choose this option, you’ll submit your poem and an audio file of you reading it. Submissions close Thursday, July 30. I’ll respond by August 12. Whether I read your poem or you read it yourself, I’d love to hear what you’re ready to share.