Front Porch Journal

Charlie Clark

Devil All Alone

The one he likes to tell himself,

or recalls most frequently

and with growing vividness

the farther from it that he gets,

begins not at the creation,

but just after, alone somewhere

walking, happening upon a scene

of creatures. A curious thing

to come at from a distance.

He wanted to know them more,

would not leave them alone.

How he pled for their attention,

struck deals to stick around.

In time he always was.

Charlie Clark's work has appeared in Best New Poets 2011 as well as Blackbird, The Laurel Review, Smartish Pace, West Branch, and other journals. He studied poetry at the University of Maryland and lives in Austin, Texas.

Charlie Clark

Devil All Alone

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