The Bethlehem Nursing Home

By Rodney Torreson b. 1951 Rodney Torreson

A birdbath ministers

to the lawn chairs,

all toppled: a recliner

on its face, metal arms

trying to push it up;

an overturned rocker,

curvature of the spine.

Armchairs on their sides,

webbing unraveled.

One faces the flowers.

A director's chair

folded, as if prepared

to be taken up.

From A Breathable Light, New Issues Poetry and Prose, 2002, and first published in Cape Rock. Copyright © 2002 by Rodney Torreson; reprinted by permission of the author.

Source: Cape Rock (2002)

Biography

Poet Rodney Torreson grew up on an Iowa farm, and his plainspoken yet mystical poems draw on the landscapes and traditions of the Midwest. He earned MFA from Western Michigan University, and his poetry collections include A Breathable Light (2002) and The Ripening of Pinstripes: Called Shots on the New York Yankees (1998).

The former poet laureate of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Torreson has won the Seattle Review’s Bentley Prize, . . .

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