Looking at Andromeda by Allan Peterson

Last night I looked at Andromeda
through my Bausch & Lombs  It was three children
in a raft all rowing on one side and anchored
so they spin in the same spot
offshore from Orion
This morning a mother bathes her baby
in a plastic duck
She babbles  Neither understands the other
An effort that lasts a lifetime
She lathers him with the slippery S’s
and tells him like a friend
how his heart rows his blood around and around
so in love with the world it’s spinning

Allan Peterson is the author of four books, Fragile Acts (McSweeney’s Poetry Series), a finalist for both the 2013 National Book Critics Circle and Oregon Book Awards. Other books include: As Much As (Salmon Press); All the Lavish in Common (2005 Juniper Prize, University of Massachusetts) Anonymous Or (Defined Providence Prize 2001) and six chapbooks. His next book, Precarious, is forthcoming from 42 Miles Press in 2014. You can find more of Allan’s work at allanpeterson.net.

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