The Apostrophe Blog
One of my poems, “Zygote,” was published in From the Finger Lakes: A Memoir Anthology in October 2021.
Here’s more about the collection from the volume’s website:
“With this collection of memoir writing, both prose and poetry, Cayuga Lake Books presents our third anthology to feature creative work by authors who live in the Finger Lakes region of New York or have left without ever forgetting what this part of the country means to them…Here you’ll find thoughtful writing that evokes family dramas, childhood adventures, mourning and celebrating, and child-rearing. Remembrances of rural life in the Finger Lakes region abound—beekeeping, farming, hiking, the constant rediscovery of nature, human relationships present and past. The variety of settings—from Ithaca to Cambodia, Spain, Alaska, and beyond—matches the variety of styles and moods. This is a book that will reverberate among your own memories.”
My poem is written in syllabic verse, a form whose meter is determined by the total number of syllables per line rather than the number of stresses. It was previously published online in Summer 2016 in VoiceCatcher. Cayuga Lake Books also published my full-length poetry collection, Every Door Recklessly Ajar, in 2015.
Zygote
considering a snapshot dated March 1955
You were, of course, but one more barely
thought. Never hypothesis, never
a two-fingered wishbone, crossed. And, yes
what predictable spin, un/kissed. Oh,
umbilical-veined, one more maelstrom
of the one meets one. Beyond the chintz,
beyond the tatted planes of lace and
bloodying dots, her frock of cinching
disarray. And him of the spit-shined
Sunday shoes, that jittery suit. Six
stitches to fix the gash where her fore-
head hit the glass after he veered to
avoid a rushing wrong-lane car. How
lucky! A miracle! Saved! The first,
all original, scarred. Not long till
the flashbulbs blink & wink & beg for
the doll to open her blues and grin.
You of the one plus one equaled one.
Interests: Reading, writing, not arithmetic. The art and craft of poetry. Photography. Vegetable and flower gardening especially heirloom bulbs and dahlias. Movies in real theatres. Theatre on real stages. Art in real galleries. Crossword puzzles and, of course, Wordle. Singer-songwriters like Aimee Mann and Patti Griffin. All kinds of music especially 1930s jazz. Venice, Italy! The Dude abides.
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- Wishing Tree - November 4, 2024
