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Todd Swift

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Lection

for my wife, Sarah Egan

We walked in white Bath that weekend.
The weather stayed away. The homes
Were well-behaved, pretty-pale, and stoic.
You held my hand as we crossed lanes;

Sometimes, my left arm, the one
Not knowing its brother’s name (shy
From the accident). Time properly spent.
Friend, your grace, your Poppins elegance,

The way you carry your tall, bright frame,
Unjoins pain’s ligaments, renames
My files, once carrying bile’s lection.
If asked to sum up, would say: Sara makes

Me cry, she is as good as any Royal Crescent
Set richly on a hill for all to spy and cost.
I fear otherwise: if luxury should ever leave.
Three days in your company defines a marvel;

A meal on the best plate, blue-cooked
To rare perfection, the fan of blood meant.
Marriage is the finest, most fierce election
For the power we hold, the other, is to be lost.

Page(s) 58

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