This Most Perfect Hill

By Lisa Jarnot b. 1967 Lisa Jarnot

On this most perfect hill

with these most perfect dogs

are these most perfect people

and this most perfect fog

In this most perfect fog

that is the middle of the sea

inside the perfect middle of

the things inside that swing

In this most perfect rhyme

that takes up what it sees,

with perfect shelter from the

rain as perfect as can be,

In this most perfect day

at the apex of the sun

runs this most perfect

frog song that is roiling

from the mud

In these most perfect habits

of the waving of the trees,

through this imperfect language

rides a perfect brilliancy.

Source: Black Dog Songs (Flood Editions, 2003)

Biography

Lisa Jarnot was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1967. After studying with the poet Robert Creeley at the University of Buffalo, she earned her MFA from Brown University. Her poetry is known for its startling yet inviting aesthetic. Jarnot has commented, “I think poems are always collage on some level… Collage is a way to force awareness out of the random flow of information that’s constantly bombarding us.” In addition to the . . .

Continue reading this biography