THE MESS ENGER Winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize I I T H E M E S S E N G E R by Stephanie Pippin UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PRESS IOWA CITY University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 52242 Copyright © 2013 by Stephanie Pippin www.uiowapress.org Printed in the United States of America Design by Omega Clay 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 publisher would be pleased to make suitable arrangements with any whom it has not been possible to reach. This is a work of poetry; any resemblance to actual events or persons is en- tirely coincidental. The University of Iowa Press is a member of Green Press Initiative and is committed to preserving natural resources. Printed on acid-free paper ISBN-13: 978-1-60938-164-6 ISBN-10: 1-60938-164-5 LCCN: 2012947366 For Andy Aimed at a distant bird, a flutter of white wings, he may feel— as it spreads out beneath him in a field of white— that he can never fail to strike. Everything he is has evolved to link the targeting eye to the striking talon. J. A. Baker We love the things we love for what they are. Robert Frost contents Afterimage 1 Shiloh 31 The Messenger 2 Iron Bridge 32 King Vulture 3 Raven 33 January 4 Phaedra 35 Meteor Shower Peaks 5 Gone 36 Dwelling 6 Riverlands 37 The Dove 8 What I Wanted 38 Morning 9 Hero 39 Tether 10 And he sang he would The Kill 12 tear her to pieces 40 Stork 13 Florida 41 Hatch 14 Pinion 42 Open Season 15 Summer 43 Lake 16 Eyas 45 Lone Elk 17 Propagation 46 Red Pines 23 Flown 47 Brazil, 1832 24 Elegy 48 The Peregrine 26 Iris 50 A Nest 27 Candling Eggs 51 Diving Horse 28 NOTES 53 Homecoming 29