Middle Age

By Jason Shinder 1955–2008 Jason Shinder

Many of my friends are alone

and know too much to be happy

though they still want to dive

to the bottom of the green ocean

and bring back a gold coin

in their hand. A woman I know wakes

in the late evening and talks

to her late husband,

the windows blank photographs.

On the porch, my brother,

hands in pockets,

stares at the flowing stream.

What’s wrong? Nothing.

The cows stand

in their own slow afternoons.

The horses gather

wild rose hips in the sun

the way I longed for someone

long ago. What was it like?

The door opening

and no one on either side.

Source: Stupid Hope (Graywolf Press, 2009)

Biography

Born in Brooklyn, poet and editor Jason Shinder grew up there and in Merrick, New York. He earned a BA at Skidmore College.

Shinder is the author of three collections of poetry: the posthumously published Stupid Hope (2009), Among Women (2001), and Every Room We Ever Slept In (1993), a New York Public Library Notable Book. In a review of Among Women, poet Carol Muske-Dukes observed, “I don’t know of any male poet that . . .

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