They will always
surprise us
in the way they die.
They lie
on the pavement
at undreamed of angles,
or set a lip in a sneer
or smile as if they,
whom we had declared
In our inductive ardor,
so predictable in their behavior,
insisted in the end
on some small measure
of individuality.
This goose
assumes a guise
barely recognizable
in its execution,
head tucked,
bill down,
under a breast flattened
by lack of breath,
the curvy neck,
the sloping handle
of a gravy boat,
which signals,
like St. Paul,
a libation all poured out.
William Derge’s poems have appeared in Negative Capability, The Bridge, Artful Dodge, Bellingham Review, and many other publications. He is the winner of the $1000 2010 Knightsbridge Prize judged by Donald Hall and second place winner of the Rainmaker Award judged by Marge Piercy. He has received honorable mentions in contests sponsored by The Bridge, Sow’s Ear, and New Millennium, among others. He is the recipient of a grant from the Maryland Council for the Arts. He lives in the Washington, DC area.