An Unknown Shore: Variations on a Fragment by Oppen

By Andrew Allport Andrew Allport

Cortez arrives.

he is absolutely lost

at an unknown shore.

an he is enraptured

(this is the nature of poetry

The poem:

Cortez arrives at an unknown shore

he is absolutely lost

and he is enraptured

Cortez arrives at an unknown shore

he is utterly lost

but he is enraptured

Cortez arrives too late.

the shore is absolutely barren, the men lost

to starvation and rapture

Cortez utters:

“lost.”

(this is the nature of description

Cortez walks upon the beach.

the ocean is as still as a map

spread out on a table.

(he takes a nap.

All the Cortezs arrive.

all the waves arrive

(this is the nature of disaster

Andrew Allport, “An Unknown Shore: Variations on a Fragment by Oppen” from The Ice Ship & Other Vessels, published by Proem Press. Copyright © 2008 by Andrew Allport. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Source: The Ice Ship & Other Vessels (Proem Press, 2008)

Biography

Andrew Allport is the author of the book the body | of space | in the shape of the human (New Issues Press, 2012) and the chapbook The Ice Ship & Other Vessels (Proem Press, 2008). He holds a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California, and his poems and essays appear widely. The poem “An Unknown Shore” first appeared in ZYZZYVA and was later reprinted in Best New Poets 2006. Its first three . . .

Continue reading this biography