“Grounds,” by Charles Douthat (Poetry ’19)

2019 poetry alum Charles Douthat was recently featured in the LEON Literary Review. Read an excerpt of “Grounds” below:

Grounds

And after draining water pipes for winter
and latching shutters closed, after strapping
suitcases to the station wagon’s rack
and taking up a basement shovel 

I’d dig a foot-deep, yard-wide earth-hole 
downhill from our two-room mountain cabin,
then wait for my father and the grease-soaked
brown-paper bag of kitchen leavings

he’d carry down.  Ceremoniously
he would nod, release the uplifted bag,
and we’d watch it strike dirt and split apart,
spewing out meat gristle and banana peels,

chicken bones and eggshells. . . 

Read this poem in its entirety here: http://leonliteraryreview.com/issue-10-charles-douthat/