sprovence
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J. Browne, Antrostomus
Jennifer Browne Antrostomus vociferus | Eastern Whip-poor-will Whip-poor-will, here youare, a caution appearingon the sill. Little corpse-bird, the body is alreadycold, and there is no oneelse to tell the storiesof their red-soil Alabama childhood. What can anyof us do but try to be still, be safe, feathers blendingwith the fallen leaves, and in the dark,…
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B. Ventura, Taos
Becky Ventura Taos Speaks Taos speaks thunder-rumble and water-trickleTaos speaks mountain peaks and gnarled sagebrush Taos speaks buzzing fly and prickly pear Taos speaks xeriscape, dirt, and dung beetles Taos speaks stumps, roots, evergreens, wind-whistleTaos speaks green pine cones dripping with viscous sapA robin, flying through tall trees, chirps her favorite song Becky Ventura grew…
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L. Villemaire, Books
Lois Villemaire Books Are Our Friends my mother repeatedlike a prayerteaching us to respectthose printed pages,fostering love of reading.She grew up walkingto her local library.Don’t scribble, write or color inside she often reminded as we placed the pile of picture booksfrom the library on the kitchen tableleafing through stories and poemseager to hear our favoritesour…
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L. Laderman, Captcha
Linda Laderman Captcha–I’m Human My oncology appointment was two hours ago. There’s a steady drip of wheelchairs, walkers, and caregivers. I dip into a bowl of Life Savers and mini malted milk balls, take a juice, and wait. Behind me is a painting that covers an entire wall. A gift in memory of a woman’s…
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C. Addison, Duvet
Colleen Addison Duvet Before the operation I went sheet-shopping, hard to rest when all around you might rip. Already in pain, I stepped cautiously through the store entrance, my faltering feet drawn to the duvet covers. This year’s themes were birds, botanicals, all aspects of nature. Unaccountably though, I noted, the manufacturers had left out…
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J. Goodfellow, New Family Order
Jessica Goodfellow New Family Order As I reach down to shake awake my sleeping father,his 4 o’clock pills rattling like dice in my left hand, I don’t know which father he’ll be. He may startle awake, and know me, and be my Dad—though not the scolding dad I dodged all my life till dementia gentled…
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L. Grace Weldon, Exact
Laura Grace Weldon Exact Intersections Rhiannon Giddens opens her set at Oberlin’s Finney Chapelwith O Death and I fall all the way into her music, letmy head and shoulders sway in the nearly imperceptible way I was raised to respond though my feet can’t help but tap. Drum, then cello enter at exact intersectionssummoning my…
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R. Emerson, The Panther
Renee Emerson The Panther A panther stalked the scrub woodsof Hickory Withe, Tennessee;a shadow, specter, half-truth or complete lie, like most of what my father ever told me. I never saw it up high in tree limbs, on porches, prowling ditches, down on Donelson Drive at dusk (he swears—right over his car).What danger in it…
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N. Prater, Digging Thistles
Nina Prater Digging Thistles Once when he and his brother were kids Granny sent them into the pasture to dig thistles and pour saltinto the holes to kill the roots for a whole hot Arkansas summer day. When they finished she paid them each a quarter. My husband isn’t that old, a quarter wasn’t any…
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M. Kirby, Cheers
Merie Kirby Cheers to my grandma, cheap chardonnay at her side,white over ice, and her formula for equilibrium:if there’s only ice in the glass, add more wine, if there’s only wine, add more ice, fighting Old Solitaire, lining up her aces after dinner,to Phil, horrified I’d never had a Manhattan,apologizing for not having better bourbon…