At the Country Estate

by Keith O'Shaughnessy

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And it was then that, there, in the cherry orchard,
by the gooseberry patch, the honeybee bumbled
through pied wildflowers, sucking
at the comb in the pollen, from the pistil-sprout,
because the swell of the nectar was creation,
because the prick of the sting was deliverance.
​
And yet, here, now, as the dew
frosts the meadow grass, a blackbird circles
over the lake's breaking fever, whistling,
at the crack of the thaw, for the trickle-melt,
because all that is heaven is air,
because there is no sound but music.

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​In 2011 Keith O’Shaughnessy’s first book of poems, Incommunicado, won the inaugural Grolier Discovery Award, sponsored by the legendary Cambridge bookshop of the same name. His second, Last Call for Ganymede, followed in 2014 from Ilora Press. At long last, his magnum opus, Petrushka, was released by Ragged Sky Press in March of this year. Along the way he has also authored three chapbooks —​ Carnaval, The Devil’s Party, and Snegurochka — all with Pudding House Publications. A near-lifelong resident of Princeton, he teaches English at Camden County College in southern New Jersey.

Read our Creators on Creating Interview with Keith

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