Camille T. Dungy is the author of America, A Love Story, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, and five other books of poetry and prose. She has edited three anthologies, including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry. Dungy is currently a University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University.
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Crumbling is not an instant’s Act
A fundamental pause
Dilapidation’s processes
Are organized Decays —‘Tis first a Cobweb on the Soul
A Cuticle of Dust
A Borer in the Axis
An Elemental Rust —Ruin is formal — Devil’s work
Consecutive and slow —
Fail in an instant, no man did
Slipping — is Crashe’s law —
(The Johnson 997 version of this poem writes it as “Crash’s law,” but is otherwise identical to the Franklin 1010 version above.)
as if an etymology my love
Camille Dungythe word sill means threshold.
I am standing at your—
I place my feet and body on—
the place where I can come
or I can go— threshold
meant a raised ledge to stop
the hay that covered a floor
from spilling out and scattering
each time someone opened
the door. hold the thresh inside,
my love. when we bed down,
let us bed down on this haysoft
floor. think of it— a syllable
is a threshold to a word—
just as a windowsill— just as
a door— love is one syllable—
sleep, hope, dream, death, no,
yes, all, one— words are openings.
every word— some with many
ledges. I place my mind and body
at your— sweep around the doorsill
carefully— my love
Other Dickinson poems referenced:
Tell all the truth but tell it slant –
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church
There’s a certain Slant of light,
People, songs, books referenced:
Charles Chestnutt – read some of his work here.
An interview with the biographer of Charles Chestnutt.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Additional/of interest:
Camille’s essay for the Poetry Foundation from several years back entitled “Tell it Slant.”
Recorded February 20, 2026.
