A Lot

By Scott Cairns b. 1954 Scott Cairns

A little loam and topsoil
is a lot.
—Heather McHugh

A vacant lot, maybe, but even such lit vacancy

as interstate motels announce can look, well, pretty

damned inviting after a long day’s drive, especially

if the day has been oppressed by manic truckers, detours,

endless road construction. And this poorly measured, semi-

rectangle, projected and plotted with the familiar

little flags upon a spread of neglected terra firma

also offers brief apprehension, which—let’s face it,

whether pleasing or encumbered by anxiety—dwells

luxuriously in potential. Me? Well, I like

a little space between shopping malls, and while this one may

never come to be much of a garden, once we rip

the old tires from the brambles and bag the trash, we might

just glimpse the lot we meant, the lot we hoped to find.

Source: Philokalia: New and Selected Poems (Zoo Press, 2002)

Biography

Scott Cairns was born in Tacoma, Washington. He received his B.A. from Western Washington University, his M.A. from Hollins College, an M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Utah. Cairns has taught at numerous universities including University of North Texas, Old Dominion University, and the University of Missouri. He was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 2006.

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