To the scion of a folded utopia
falls the second draft, the writing in
of austerities, the codicil by which
mayors may hire rat catchers
to patrol in the city of God.
In the revision, excisions:
less grandeur, less jasper, capes
without ermine, feasts without wine.
In the visionary’s version, an Eden,
no dustpans, no qualms.
In his heir’s, the Shangri-la
of weeds and misspelled words.
Jane Zwart teaches at Calvin University and coedits book reviews for Plume. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, Southern Review, and The Nation. Her first collection, Oddest & Oldest & Saddest & Best (Orison), came out in February 2026.
Image: Ries Bosch. Unsplash, 2024.
