Sarah J. Sloat’s Comments

“so, what’s it like living in Germany”
They say after a week in a foreign country you can describe it with precision. After a year or so, you don’t know what to say anymore. Since I don’t know where to start when this question comes at me, the poem is a kind of response. It pivots in part around a WWII joke about an American pilot taken prisoner by the Germans. They subject him to a torture in which he should say “tick-tock tick-tock” until he spills the beans, but he will only say “tick.” In frustration, the chief torturer says, “Ve haf vays to make you tock!” And they do.

“From Train 21”
One of my favorite Beatles songs is “Baby You’re a Rich Man,” which is two unfinished songs stuck together. This poem also began as two separate poems that didn’t work for two different reasons; mixing parts of them together seemed to.

“Station Evangel”
This poem was inspired by Frankfurt’s main train station, most of it grungy.

“The Persian’s Reach”
The body, longing, and time.

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