ROUTINE
by Karen Van Dyck
Life is so slow
it could take forever
to complete this line
everything could have
already happened
before it gets there
the dishes, the cake
the bedtime story
all pushed along
by the weight
of my hand
the world adjusting
to the pace
of crossing
the page.
Stay this way
this slow
forever.
Karen Van Dyck’s translations include Austerity Measures (Penguin 2016; NYRB 2017), The Scattered Papers of Penelope (Graywolf 2009), and The Greek Poets (Norton 2009). Until recently she has published her own poetry solely in translation in Greek (Poiitiki), but she is now beginning to publish in English (Ergon, Tender, Locomotive).