high ground coward Winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize h i g h g rou n d c owa r d ▴▴▴ poems by alicia mountain University of Iowa Press, Iowa City University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242 Copyright © 2018 by Alicia Mountain www.uipress.uiowa.edu Printed in the United States of America Design by Ashley Muehlbauer No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. All reasonable steps have been taken to contact copyright holders of material used in this book. The publish- er would be pleased to make suitable arrangements with any whom it has not been possible to reach. The University of Iowa Press is a member of Green Press Initiative and is committed to preserving natural resources. Printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Mountain, Alicia, author. Title: High ground coward / Alicia Mountain. Description: Iowa City : University Of Iowa Press, [2018] | Series: Iowa Poetry Prize Identifiers: LCCN 2017039374 (print) | LCCN 2017051329 (e-book) | ISBN 978-1-60938-545-3 (paperback : acid-free paper) | ISBN 978-1-60938-546-0 (e-book) Subjects: BISAC: POETRY / General. Classification: LCC PS3613.O857 (e-book) | LCC PS3613.O857 A6 2018 (print) | DDC 811/.6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017039374 For my parents, with love. contents The Book Is a Hungry Darkness 1 Deadbolt Door Syndrome 2 The Smallest Thaw 3 Drive Thru 5 On Being Told to Do Whatever I Want 8 Elysian / Echo 10 Southpaw Skin the Gloves 12 Succession Planting 13 Haymaker Barnburner 15 Safety Off 16 The Whole Water-Faced Auditorium 19 Almanac Traction 20 Number Love, My Taxes 21 Palomino 23 The Most Elegant Way to Win Was to Quit 24 Purpose Is the Body and the Un-Body 26 No Collar 27 In the Belly of the Horse 28 Spit Valve Hello 30 Sunday Polarized Lenses 32 Orange Grove and a View of the Pacific 34 A Year or Two 35 Little Rectangular Earths 37 What I Loathe in Others I Like in You 38 Heard Each of Us 40 The Difference between Oasis and Mirage 42 Asteroid Recovery 45 What if the Drought Stayed 46 A Deer Mistaken for a Statue of a Deer 48 Upland Honest 49 This Particular Solvent 51 With Holding Hands 52 Hawk Like a Steeple 53 Beyond Task and Future, Endlessly Worthy 54 Museum Fear 55 In the Paint 56 Solitary Tasting 58 Supper Conversation 60 Inescapable Luck 62 Ricochet 63 You, the Undersigned 65 Riparian County 67 Remember Driving to Salt Lake City 69 Auxiliary File for Not-Brian 71 Closing Costs 74 Some Days 75 Safelight | Composite | Stereo 77 Scavenger 79 Forward Falling Daytime 89 Open the Box That Holds the Fire 91 No one to witness and adjust, no one to drive the car —william carlos williams