February 17, 2011 update:  David Radavich’s new book is Middle-East Mezze (2011, Plain View Press).

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Recovery

Break into pieces

and the pot will shatter
its shards

wherever the earth
will collect them again,

where all fragments
wither, knowing this soil

of the forgotten
over-trod by generations

who feast on time
as if they had it all to themselves,

the débris of the heart left
for grave-robbers to discover

yet I turn in my hand
this one blue triangle over

that must have graced
someone’s living and now mine

where the absence was

I claim and declare it

beautiful and incomplete,

hoping for fingers
finally

to clench all indignities

David Radavich is the author of Slain Species (Court Poetry, London), By the Way: Poems over the Years (Buttonwood, 1998), and Greatest Hits (Pudding House, 2000). He has also published a full-length comedy, Nevertheless . . ., five short dramas, and a wide range of poetry in journals and anthologies. His plays have been performed across the U.S., including six Off-Off-Broadway productions. Fragments of the Third Planet received its European premiere in 2000 in Germany. America Bound: An Epic for Our Time (Plain View, 2007), narrates American history from World War II to the present. His latest collection is Canonicals: Love’s Hours (Finishing Line, 2009).

David’s website is www.davidradavich.org.  He welcomes you to visit, browse through more of his writing, and offer your feedback.

“Recovery” was also published in Welcoming Hope: Poems for those in need  (Elin Grace Publishing, 2007).

“Blue Vase” from Antiqueclipart.com.