JOURNEYMAN

Glances about the shop now. Trays
          of type refilled,
Galley proofs hung to dry. The days
          shorter, the skills

Repetitive. Time to bring out
          the haversack,
Face the long road ahead, the doubt,
          the inner lack,

The still unanswered questions. Ink,
          and how it flows
Sometimes, on its own. Time to think.
          A door to close.

Jared Carter’s fifth book of poems, A Dance in the Street, was released by Wind Publications. His book of narrative poems, Cross this Bridge at a Walk, came out from Wind in 2006. Carter’s first book, Work, for the Night Is Coming, received the Walt Whitman Award. He is the recipient of a number of national awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.