Austin Smith is the author of two poetry collections, Almanac and Flyover Country (Princeton University Press, 2018). He received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in fiction from Stanford University, as well as the 2014 Narrative Prize for his short story “The Halverson Brothers.” Smith teaches creative writing at Stanford University and mostly lives in Schapville, Illinois.

Chekhov

by Austin Smith

They say you may have caught
Tuberculosis from the peasants
Who came to Melikhovo

To be seen by you. Hearing them
Coughing in the hall, you put down
Your pen and rose from your desk.


Short of breath, they had traveled
All night to arrive by dawn, drawn
By rumors of your kindness.
People on couch
To continue reading please sign in.
Join for free
Already a reader? Sign In