Hide and Seek
By Kay Ryan
It’s hard not
to jump out
instead of
waiting to be
found. It’s
hard to be
alone so long
and then hear
someone come
around. It’s
like some form
of skin’s developed
in the air
that, rather
than have torn,
you tear.
Kay Ryan served two years as the poet laureate of the United States, finishing her term in 2010. (See "The Exit Interview" with The Washington City Paper.) She was the tenth woman of 45 U.S. Poet Laureates since the position was created in 1937; the post is now held by Philip Levine. In that role, Ryan was a champion of underfunded community colleges. Read more of her wonderful work in The Best of It: New and Selected Poems and The Niagara River.
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