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MICHAEL MCGRIFF

Note Left for My Former Self

I’ve seen a group of farm kids
hypnotize a rabbit
by pinning it on its back
then stroking its neck.

This is what I think of
when I see you in the night—

not the trick,
but the distress call
we manage to send out
while we are pinned
to our stillness.  

“Note Left for My Former Self” was originally published in Home Burial (2012), and is used by permission of Copper Canyon Press.

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   Contributor’s notes

   The Cow 
   In February 
   New Civilian 
   Note Left for My Former Self 
   Figures in the Landscape 
   Reasons for Staying 
   The Watch 

   Levis Remembered: A Reading Loop 

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