Facing It

by c.safos



He set his face away

from the eclipse, his eyes seeking

their way to a place where the sun

does not see. In the distance,

the wheat waved and wilted under the wind

whose breath blew beyond the bare field.

The day found its bearings under

the chorus of cicadas chirping,

their tempo keeping time like a moving train.


He set his face away from all this

and beneath him, the rainwater from the storm drained

groaning into a gorge with a slight gurgle and sigh.

The fields fall fallow under the flood and freeze, and somehow he found her—

her hair dancing

like Medusa's split ends,

his feet cementing him

like a scarecrow wearing fearless birds.

  1. What effect does the following line have on the poem?

the wheat waved and wilted under the wind

AIt compares wind to wheat.

BIt imitates the whirring sound of the wind.

C) It shows the difference between wheat and a flower that wilts.

D) It creates a sense of being stuck in a box.