Here are six poems of mine. Thank you for giving them a home in One Art, Mark Danowsky.
Pride
Some things go with it—
the anxious stares
the desire to attenuate things—
so that a flower in a vase
stands just
as it is
as long as it is
invisibly and because.
*
The Color of Trees
All these creatures filled
with petrified wood
as I am—little bird—
as I am—snow-filled skull—
ornamental nightingale—
so my early years and late
stretch in a thin line—
break and breathe—
as trees thrown by a river
rise—what’s the difference
bird—call me if you need
any 200-year-old trees.
*
Frets
The forest will take you—
you with your sudden
aching parts
your steely starts
and uneven gait
your unconscious fits—
don’t fret, Friend, walk—
something will roll you
something will lift you up
as if by wind—
a frond.
A river walk.
*
Idyll
Something it is that hangs
on the backs of bushes—
laundry-line or vine, half-
occluded woodbine—
or those rotten birches—
the hollow ones—now
that we’ve become
no more useful to them
than this unpredictable sun.
*
Another Summer
Dogs walked the streets
trees snuck behind shadows
the world was an alley
in my heart a tune played
ice fell and melted
large drinks were served
these were the salad days
but we didn’t yet know it
we were so busy counting
our private miseries
our secret wishes.
*
Remains
What remains in my notebook
now that the day is done
here on this sick planet
I think I’ll pour another
look up at the dim
stars—for tonight
they’re on fire.
*
Ethel Rackin is the author of three books of poetry: The Forever Notes (Parlor Press, 2013), Go On (Parlor Press, 2016), and Evening (Furniture Press, 2017). Her new text, Crafting Poems and Stories: A Guide to Creative Writing, is forthcoming from Broadview Press. Poems are forthcoming in Allium, Colorado Review, and Guesthouse.
The local Doylestown Library is celebrating National Poetry Month with a video of me reading my poem, "Forge." You can check it out on their FB page or on YouTube. Thanks to Lodina Slawecki for making her dream into a reality.
Happy to be included in this beautiful new issue of New England Review. If you don't already, consider subscribing.
I'm grateful to be included in Welcome to the Resistance: Poetry as Protest, an anthology edited by Ona Gritz and Taylor Carmen Savath. This wonderful new anthology collects the work of a remarkable group of poets. Proceeds benefit Taylor's reading series/political
letter writing campaign.
You can purchase your copy here:
https://www.etsy.com/.../welcome-to-resistance-poetry-as...
I'm delighted to have two poems in the beautiful inaugural issue of Allium: A Journal of Poetry & Prose. Alium is the new multi-...
