"Something shining outside the black line"
Dickinson, Gregg, Fraser, Zapruder, Muldoon
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Emily Dickinson:
Springs - shake the Sills - / But - the Echoes - stiffen - / Hoar - is the Window - and /
numb - the Door - / Tribes of Eclipse - in Tents / of Marble - / Staples of Ages - have
buckled - there -
Linda Gregg:
Kathleen Fraser:
Matthew Zapruder:
Paul Muldoon:







Magnificent poems, auspicious collection! I am staring at my old black Swingline stapler now, waiting for inspiration.
Old English root: From Old English stapol, meaning a post, pillar, or foundation. Germanic origin: Rooted in Proto-Germanic *stapulaz ("stem")
It's interesting that staple connotes something vital/ foundational (like staple crop) and also something additional or supplementary, a suture or afterthought