"we crowd around one another/waiting for the
stories/to become ours"
These quiet poems shift between historical and individual memory,
creating something larger than either alone.
how to confront spiritual despair
with spirit misrepresented
iconography placates terror
perhaps you have reached the ocean
water recovered your memory
intact you float
crumbling spirit devoured
portioned away in tiny bellies
among the rocks of earth
where hope, divinity pushed out
systematically hungry
was god surprised to see you
standing demanding room
tectonic plates must have pulled away
to allow your suffering
silent tier in the earth
Poet Jenna Roper Harmon has recently and temporarily
returned to her home state of Texas, where she is teaching ESL and
writing. Her poems can be found in a variety of publications including
Angle, lyric&, and Prosodia.
