fine poetry to turn your world around
A Brief History of Wetzel County – by Bonnie ProudfootHere is a hill, a trail,shale rocks crumble into earthwhen I step on them,canes of multiflora rose tugmy legs, arms, neck, face. Herefog hugs the valleys,autumn sun dips behindthe ridgeline before 3:00,stumps of chestnut treesare wider than anyliving trees, squirrelshide in oak branches.Here Lewis Wetzel, bornin […]
Late-Life ContentmentI like my late-life belly, its rounded willingnessmetaphor for Swiss chocolate, crème brûlée, butter on hottoast. When the doctor squints and says “body mass” I say“you won’t believe who joined me for a good meal at that littlerestaurant!” Besides, most descriptions of weight-loss dietsare such an insult to the children starving in Gaza—if you […]
What Rope Is ForIf she lived in this world,no longer would she murmurabout her appetite for Wyoming—rocks, feathers, an open hand,a conjuring. Her desireis flamingo, a train ticketto Aberdeen, the shiny midnightof Hollywood starlight on paper.And Wyoming. What she has is a campaign button, leftover bread crusts, a length of rope knotted in place, its […]
The Pool in Palm Springs It’s a hundred and ten and I’m driftingthrough the last hour of the long weekend at our favorite hotel, floatingin the sparkling blue half-submerged and dozing. Behindthe low hum of the air conditionervoices rise and fall, sounds without language. Music plays distant and foreign. Footsteps come closer then fade. The […]
