Poet's Choice

of men tied to posts, about to be shot.

Or perhaps it was Africa, or Afghanistan.

So we endure it. This is what Jefferson

and Lincoln had to endure,

sitting and listening to people

argue . . . the cost of conversion from oil to coal

and the statement by the tree-trimming committee.

If you want to know what freedom cost

look for us here, under the linoleum.

Dig between the end of the table

and the wall of some brown material

grained like wood, with imitation knotholes.

For me, the wood paneling cinches the final image. It's the perfect, Chekhovian detail -- embodying Simpson's understated precision.

(These poems by Louis Simpson appear in "The Owner of the House: New and Collected Poems 1940-2001." BOA. Copyright 2003.)