Today Don Paterson’s new book “Rain,” slim and buoyant, appears with this near-perfect poem:
CORRECTIVES
The shudder in my son’s left hand
he cures with one touch from his right,
two fingertips laid feather-light
to still his pen. He understands
the whole man must be his own brother
for no man is himself alone;
though some of us have never known
the one hand’s kindness to the other.
Don Paterson
Order Rain
More on Don Paterson
Paterson is also a jazz guitarist
read his playlist from The New York Times
Poem copyright © 2009 by Don Paterson