Dia Publications Spotlight: Mónica de la Torre, “Readings in Contemporary Poetry”

In honor of National Poetry Month, each week we present a poem from our Readings in Contemporary Poetry: An Anthology, edited by Vincent Katz, long-time curator of the eponymous series. This week features Mónica de la Torre’s “View from a Management Chair.” For more poetry programs at Dia, check out our next event in the series, Tribute to John Godfrey on Tuesday, April 20, 6 pm.

View from a Management Chair
By Mónica de la Torre

With the information on hand, impossible to discern the cubicle’s wood.
Without question it’s an honest material; it’s just that the online database,

with digital images and descriptions of various types, magnifies,
without much reliability, it seems, the differences in their grains.

With no basis except for its blondeness, in such issues a received knower,
without ever before having considered the matter, the guess

with regard to the source genus is that it’s oak, birch, or hard maple.
Without any of those trees being native to the region, though, it’s up in the air.

With nothing else competing for the retina’s attention,
without any visual input other than the panels’ loopy growth rings,

with only a keyboard in sight, a lamp, a flower-patterned tissue box, and scraps,
without being a dendrochronologist, time is the one thing to manage.