Accident waiting to happen by A E Stallings

Poems

June 2006

Accident waiting to happen

by A E Stallings

A new poem.

Burke

was right!

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Like the scalding cup
Of coffee you left
At the brink of the table,

I brim with potential.
I'm bright and unstable
As a just-mopped floor,

I'm a curtain near a candle,
Finger in the door,
A loose axe-handle.

I'm the wrist flicked fast
With no backwards look
Blindly casting

The innocent fishhook.
I'm the toy on the stair,
The hole in the street.

I'm right in plain sight,
I'm under your feet.
I'm over your head:

I've got an edge,
And I hang by a thread.
It's almost time,

And my aim is steady.
You're falling for me,
I feel it. I'm

Ready.

A E Stallings's latest collection of poetry is Hapax (TriQuarterly).

Webcasts

Anthony Daniels on the Euro Crisis
The New Criterion author Anthony Daniels delivers remarks in New York City about the "European experiment." With an introduction by editor Roger Kimball. Recorded on November 30, 2011.

Andrew C. McCarthy: The Muslim Threat
The New Criterion contributor Andrew C. McCarthy delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the threat of Islamism to the United States. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces McCarthy to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.

Roger Kimball: The Grim Future of Statism
The New Criterion editor Roger Kimball delivers remarks in Effingham, Illinois, about the future of statism and The New Criterion's 30th anniversary. A Friend of The New Criterion, Dwight Erskine, introduces Roger Kimball to the Effingham audience. Recorded on October 1, 2011.

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