Citizen

/ Issue 10.2 /

I am visiting the books, abiding among them awhile,
…not bothering them—they are all at peace
On the polished shelves, even The Great War
…and Modern Memory. A person can be a burden
To a book, I am mindful of this, especially the kind who reads
…fiercely and makes notes in the margins.
I will leave them alone for awhile. I thought I might review
…what Plato wrote about the Republic,
Then consult Diderot and Rousseau on the citoyen,
…but the stacks are their own nation, a geography
Of consciousness, so many dead minds mapped in high relief
…against the silence, my brothers and sisters in their bound
Domain. There are powers among them, but no tyrants.
…None of them is unfair or foreign to the others. In this room
I throw away my useless passport. I will be anonymous
…in my heavy body, paper-white. Left too long
On a table in the sun, I am coming a little unglued.

T.R. Hummer

T.R. Hummer

T.R. Hummer's chapbook, In These States appeared from Jacar Press in 2020. Otherwise, he has published fifteen books of poetry and essays, most recently After the Afterlife (Acre Books, 2018). Former editor-in-chief of The Kenyon Review, of New England Review, and of The Georgia Review, he lives in retirement in Cold Spring, NY, and never goes to meetings.
T.R. Hummer

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Author: T.R. Hummer

T.R. Hummer's chapbook, In These States appeared from Jacar Press in 2020. Otherwise, he has published fifteen books of poetry and essays, most recently After the Afterlife (Acre Books, 2018). Former editor-in-chief of The Kenyon Review, of New England Review, and of The Georgia Review, he lives in retirement in Cold Spring, NY, and never goes to meetings.