The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: Narrow Bridge by Robbi Nester

This selection, chosen by Guest Curator Stephanie Erdman, is from Narrow Bridge by Robbi Nester, released by Main Street Rag in 2019.

Season of Mending

All my life, I’ve left a trail of broken things—
first mangled toys, lost game pieces, missing
cards, then bungled knitting, fallen
cakes, buttons that won’t
stay sewn. Relationships as well
break down: harsh words can’t
be unsaid; candor cools lifelong alliances.
At first, I never tried to fix such breaks,
just moved on, hoping for better luck.
Now, buried in the drifts of what
I’ve left behind, I turn to mending.
From the drain, I extract
a lost earring, from a pile
of papers a letter I meant to send
but never did. I apologize
for everything I said or didn’t,
for not expressing what I felt
or speaking when I shouldn’t have.
With these small gestures, let me
mend the past, repair the world.

Robbi Nester lives and writes in Southern California. She is the author of four published books of poems and editor of three anthologies. A retired college educator, she was elected in 2011 to the Academy of American Poets. Currently, she writes reviews and curates two poetry reading series as well as being an editorial consultant on the New Voices Project. Her poetry, reviews, and other writing appear widely in journals and anthologies.

Stephanie L. Erdman graduated Purdue University and received her master’s degree through Indiana University. Her first poetry collection, Pyrrhonic, is available through Dos Madres Press and her second collection, Sankhara, is upcoming from Urban Farmhouse Press. Stephanie describes her style as anything with music and novelty. Stephanie lives in Northwest Indiana and works as a professor of English, editor, and professional tutor. She lives in Benton Harbor, Michigan with her dog, cat, 18 chickens, a transient partner, and persistent impostor syndrome.