Parable

BY D. A. POWELL

There was prophecy
a man would die
and eventually he did
he really did die

the sad thing was
he was so scared
of what would happen
he never did live


D. A. POWELL is the author of the trilogy of books Tea (Wesleyan University Press, 1998), Lunch (Wesleyan University Press, 2000), and Cocktails (Graywolf Press, 2004)—which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His poetry collection Chronic (Graywolf Press, 2009) received the Kingsley Tufts Award and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. His most recent books are Repast: Tea, Lunch, Cocktails (Graywolf Press, 2014) and Useless Landscape, or a Guide for Boys: Poems (Graywolf Press, 2012).