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Michael Dickman was born in Portland, Oregon, and is the author of the poetry collections The End of the West, Green Migraine, and Flies, winner of the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. He is also the coauthor, with his twin brother Matthew Dickman, of the poetry collection 50 American Plays. His poem “Returning to Church” was awarded the 2008 Narrative Prize. He teaches at Princeton University.


2008 WINNER

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Returning to Church

by Michael Dickman
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Walking through the snow with her was enough, quiet enough
white breaking
beneath our boots
White


then dirt
White, then
concrete


Not a word


I watched the black branches of the oaks gliding above us
like the shadows of koi
Shadows, she was singing


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Reader Comments

  • It's lovely to return to a poem you read years ago...
  • I dig the "white/ dirt/ then white . . ...
  • What metaphor!...
  • I've followed Michael's poems for a while. I love the imagery...
  • Am I understanding this correctly? The outsider finds himself feeling at...
  • Gorgeous....
  • This is a very beautiful poem. I like the outsider perspective,...

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