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Sign-Directed

Text of Poem

I was born under the sign
of the threshing machine
and lived by its portent.
The meaning of the hot August
day when I entered this world
stays with me even in
coldest January. I move
in the sweat and dust of the work,
hearing the engine whirl
the cylinder, shake the sieves,
turn the auger as belts slap
and clack and pulleys spin.
I haul in my crop to
separate wheat from the chaff,
closed in the zodiac of
a hot August morning while
Leo roars among the stars.

First Line
I was born under the sign
Original Pub Location
Original Publication Date
1982
Original Citation
Poetry Now 6.6 Issue 36 (1982) 11.
Complete Poems
435
Word Count
90
Poetic Form
open
Bibliographic Notes

Published in Complete as "Sign-Directed" with a 1982 publication date. HTP lists as 1983. Complete and IAPV1982 say 1982.

Themes
Twitter Quote
I was born under the sign / of the threshing machine / and lived by its portent.