Mark Yakich

New Love Poem

Do not be embarrassed if you do not
get it right the first time. The l finger

controls the o. In making that reach,
raise the j and k fingers slightly

to give the l finger greater freedom.
Lift the f finger slightly and type

Fold your gold in your old bowling
ball bag. Hold the a finger on the a

key. Make the reach without twisting
the elbow. The letter m is controlled

by the j finger. Type come home move socks
mock lick and jerk luck. Type I can

go. I can go for them. I can go. She
has gone for it. Type He gave cash

for it. Joe had the old rod and the net
for her. Type She won’t have to go.

Type I can hear him sing. Type
I am going there I am Type

I can do this right. I am going. Type
The ? is the shift of the last key

at the right of the first row. Type
Hold the hands steady as you shift

and make the reach for the ?.
Type These sentences are the work

that I must write now; I must
write them with ease and control.

This I can do if I write
just as I think I can. Type Go.

Type Gone.

Mark Yakich is the author of Unrelated Individuals Forming a Group Waiting to Cross (Penguin 2004) and The Making of Collateral Beauty (Tupelo 2006). His website is markyakich.com