Left in the dark, we all get
a bad case of epithet
mouth. I know you
remember what I used
to call you. Daisy chains
extend the grieving
process, we held
position until squirrely-
eyed dawn when all
props are strung
out and recoiled
again. How many
weeks since the longest
day of the year? Tie knots in
our shirttails to remember and
71 all the soul singers drop out
the trees. Still there
are sirens in unison, calling after
all reason. “I thank you,”
we repeat in rounds,
to keep our tongues
from freezing, warm the cheat
sheet, boogey off
lava and ergot.
This selection comes from Jen Tynes’ poetry collection Trick Rider, available now from Trembling Pillow Press. Purchase your copy here.
Jen Tynes is the founding editor of Horse Less Press. She is the
author of four full-length books of poetry–Hunter Monies (Black
Radish Books), Trick Rider (Trembling Pillow Press), Heron/Girlfriend
(Coconut Books), and The End Of Rude Handles (Red Morning Press), and
the author or co-author of eight chapbooks. She teaches writing and
lives in Grand Rapids.
Jane Huffman is a current MFA candidate in Poetry at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a staff eDior for Sundress Publications. Her poetry is featured or forthcoming in The Adroit Journal, Moon City Review, Radar Poetry, PHANTOM, Word Riot, The This Magazine, RHINO Poetry, and elsewhere in print and online. She lives in Iowa City, where she teaches literature in the University of Iowa English Department and serves on the poetry staff of The Iowa Review.
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