about the author
Allan Peterson’s Omnivore won the 2009 Boom Chapbook Prize from Bateau Press. All the Lavish in Common, his last full-length collection, won the 2005 Juniper Prize. His next book, As Much As, is forthcoming from Salmon Press, Ireland. He was recently invited to read at the Cuisle International Poetry Festival in Limerick, Ireland. Print and online appearances include: Shenandoah, Denver Quarterly, Paris Review Daily, Crazyhorse, Zócalo.
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I GOOGLED ALASKA
Allan Peterson
I Googled Alaska and watched caribou
spill down the ridges
I heard a winch of birds lifting something
I could not see
I know the house gets tired down on its elbows
watching the water
I hear it adjusting its windows for a better view
and a crack appears in the stucco
Shadows are creeping up the house
slow as clock hands
soon we will not remember they had them
hours will be real
for those who only remember red numbers
It is part of remaking the substantial world
after the one of dreams
stirring and night coughs muffled by linen
your body by a window
cool wilderness images mating for life