Mary Jo Salter
RECOVERY
When I hear
recuperate,
I taste a cup
of tea in it
and more in the pot,
I think recap—
as if you will
reclaim the person
you were when well;
and also copper,
CU and a cue
to picture a thin
rust-colored bracelet
meant to conquer
the bones’ deep pain.
Not so recover.
Sure, its Latin
roots are the same,
but the word, I find,
gets at some punishing
thing in the mind
that’s bound to happen
at three in the morning
time and again—
what makes you cower
under the covers
although the saner
part of you knows
there’s no intruder
(yet) in the house.
pictured aboive right: Mary Jo Salter flanked by David Lehman and Mark Strand in 2012.