No soap for the washcloth, no salt for the brine
that is dinner tonight. Mercury columns
insist the cold is too much for a man to endure
but, closer than ever to God, what you do
is endure and endure. With grit. Other inmates
use their washcloths wrong, weave sheepshanks
well into the moon time, climb their new ropes
Ben Ladouceur is a recipient of the Earle Birney Prize. His first book of poems, Otter, will be published by Coach House Press in spring 2015.
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