Alan Dugan

Here you will find the Poem Love Song: I And Thou of poet Alan Dugan

Love Song: I And Thou

Nothing is plumb, level, or square: 
the studs are bowed, the joists 
are shaky by nature, no piece fits 
any other piece without a gap 
or pinch, and bent nails 
dance all over the surfacing 
like maggots. By Christ 
I am no carpenter. I built 
the roof for myself, the walls 
for myself, the floors 
for myself, and got 
hung up in it myself. I 
danced with a purple thumb 
at this house-warming, drunk 
with my prime whiskey: rage. 
Oh I spat rage?s nails 
into the frame-up of my work: 
it held. It settled plumb, 
level, solid, square and true 
for that great moment. Then 
it screamed and went on through, 
skewing as wrong the other way. 
God damned it. This is hell, 
but I planned it, I sawed it, 
I nailed it, and I 
will live in it until it kills me. 
I can nail my left palm 
to the left-hand crosspiece but 
I can?t do everything myself. 
1 need a hand to nail the right, 
a help, a love, a you, a wife.