JON BISHOP is an MFA candidate at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where he studies poetry. He lives in New Hampshire

We walk along the ship and shore, are sure 

That this is how we each should spend our days—

Good food, good wine, no melancholy sneers

Of those who spend their lives in unreal things.

Yes, this—a paradise that’s tangible,

Like salt that cakes along your skin from swims

Or from the wind that blows along the beach.

We’re used to steel that blots the sun and stars.

But steel has brought us to this lovely place 

That seems to be beyond the normal earth.

O Love, I plead, I do not want to leave.

Why don’t we stay for one more day or two

Or three—or never leave, so we are free

To taste the things we know await us all.