Linda Gregerson, from “De Magnete”

It was during the siege of Lucera
     that Petrus Peregrinus (Peter
the Pilgrim), builder of catapults, layer
of mines, chief engineer and servant
     to Charles the servant of God,
conducted in his leisure hours behind
     the fortifications whose
erection he himself had lately overseen
     experiments on the lodestone.
From his letter "On the Magnet" (August
     8, 1269), a world
of usefulness and chiefly as to method, only
     later named and codified. "My dearest
friend," he wrote. The scorching wind.
     The city not yet fallen. Soon.

From Magnetic North, which also includes the long poem “Bicameral.” Gregerson will be taking part in the “Reading Between A & B” series next month with C. Dale Young and John Gallaher. Here’s a preview of what she might sound like: “Narrow Flame,” which she read last month to an Atlanta audience.

16 April 2007 | poetry |