Poem-a-Day DBF countdown: Jeffrey McDaniel

The Aug. 26 cover story "Monsters of Poetry" puts the spotlight on the poet's art to preview the fourth annual Decatur Book Festival, to be held Sep. 4-6. This blog will count down the days to the festival by posting a poem each day by a different writer, to let the verse speak for itself. For Aug. 31, “The Quiet World” by Jeffrey McDaniel (which offers some intriguing implications for the Twitter era).

"The Quiet World"

In an effort to get people to look

into each other's eyes more,

and also to appease the mutes,

the government has decided

to allot each person exactly a hundred

and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear

without saying hello. In the restaurant

I point at chicken noodle soup.

I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover,

proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.

I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn't respond,

I know she's used up all her words,

so I slowly whisper I love you

thirty-two and a third times.

After that, we just sit on the line

and listen to each other breathe.

Jeffrey McDaniel is the author of four books, most recently The Endarkenment (University of Pittsburgh Press), and teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.