Charlie Clark
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.