Take Heart: A Conversation in Poetry: Glacial Erotic

Edited and introduced by Wesley McNair, Maine Poet Laureate

What most characterizes the poetry of Carl Little of Ellsworth is its combination of the whimsical and the grave. Here?s an example, from his book Ocean Drinker.

Glacial Erotic by Carl Little

When the great sheet of ice lifted,
enormous boulders were left scattered
on mountainsides and deep in the forests.
They assumed unusual positions.

One massive example, with a smooth top
and curved sides, served as the trysting place
for lovers from the town of Bar Harbor.
They assumed unusual positions.

You say erratic, I say erotic, let?s call
the whole thing rock. And when the glaciers
next return, flipping us over in our beds,
we, too, will assume most unusual positions.

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Take Heart: A Conversation in Poetry is produced in collaboration with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance. Poem copyright © 2006 Carl Little. Reprinted from Ocean Drinker: New and Selected Poems, Deerbrook Editions, 2006, by permission of Carl Little. Questions about submitting to Take Heart may be directed to Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, Special Consultant to the Maine Poet Laureate, at mainepoetlaureate@gmail.com or 207-228-8263. Take Heart: Poems from Maine, an anthology collecting the first two years of this column, is now available from Down East Books.