by Martina Reisz Newberry
for Djelloul Marbrook
The mountains are perfect
this morning so I re-read
your perfect poems.
Knit two, purl three,
knit two, purl two
and there on the page
is a scarf in hearty woolen
adverbs and adjectives.
I would do nearly anything
to know that someone
lingered over my images
as I do yours and
I would do it twice to find
you’d borrowed
one of my phrases.
You must know that
your poems, so beautiful they
are treacherous, paralyze my pen.
Oh, I realize this isn’t
an appropriate way
to show gratitude, nor is it
an answer to my reflection
in the cracked mirror
of my own regrets.
This morning, my friend,
I found autumn
and the sea,
and terror and love
and wonder and pain
and such enviable
nourishment
that I can never forgive you.
Yes, I am tired,
and even the surreal sky,
even the spirit-filled mountains
don’t rouse me to action.
I read instead—read
Your poems and sip at
a Mimosa because it’s
never too early for champagne
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Martina Reisz Newberry’s most recent book is WHAT WE CAN’T FORGIVE. She is also the author of LATE NIGHT RADIO, PERHAPS YOU COULD BREATHE FOR ME. HUNGER, AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE: POEMS 1996-2006, NOT UNTRUE & NOT UNKIND (Arabesques Press) and RUNNING LIKE A WOMAN WITH HER HAIR ON FIRE: Collected Poems (Red Hen Press)., Ms. Newberry is the winner of i.e. magazine’s Editor’s Choice Poetry Chapbook Prize for 1998: AN APPARENT, APPROACHABLE LIGHT., She is the author of LIMA BEANS AND CITY CHICKEN: MEMORIES OF THE OPEN HEARTH—a memoir of her father—published by E.P. Dutton and Co. in 1989., She has written four novels and several books of poetry, has been included in Ascent Aspirations first Anthology and has been widely published in literary magazines and books such as: Amelia, Ascent Aspirations, Bellingham Review, Southern Review of Poetry, and others., Newberry lives in Palm Springs, California with her husband Brian and their benevolent dictator/cat, Gato. All her books are available from amazon.com.
Last updated August 05, 2011