Knife

Stubby, long, straight, curved,
hooked, it said, "Skilled."
"Good wage." "No need
for brawn." Whetted
and honed till it could
glide through rib or shank,
it sometimes turned against
the inattentive. Stickers
had a little hooked one
they'd flick in and pull
through the carotid. When a stray
chain knocked Peewee's
into the air, it sliced
across his arm so deep
the bone showed; at first
he didn't notice. Use it right
and it could get you more
than just respect: Leroy
up in Hog Cut got to where
he'd whip that double-handled,
semicircle blade across
a fatty loin and there'd be
nothing but the purplish sheen
of meat in membrane. Nobody
took his chair at lunch
or at the Mohawk after 6:15.

“Knife,” a sample poem from The Packing House Cantata, by William Trowbridge.

Chapbook, poetry.
Foreword by Leigh Allison Wilson.
Chosen by Thomas Lux as winner of the First Annual Camber Press Poetry Chapbook Award.
20 pages, 13 poems.
Saddle stitch binding.
Four-color cover, acid-free paper throughout.
ISBN 0-9727455-4-8

Price: $8.00
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