Tao by ELAINE EQUI

To go

round the world

with a flair

on a matchhead

from wharf

to ant farm

observing

all the signs

by rote

sad trot

charred nettles

the dog-eared webs

that hone the ether

until and then

From “Surface Tension” by Elaine Equi (Coffee House Press: $8.95; 69 pp.; 0-918273-54-4). Equi established herself as a writer in Chicago, where she received her master’s in writing from Columbia College. The author of six books of poetry, she was selected for inclusion in two recent anthologies, “Best Poems of 1989,” edited by Donald Hall, and “Under 35,” edited by Nicholas Christopher. 1990 by Elaine Equi. Reprinted by permission of Coffee House Press.