The Poetry Centre
by Anna Richman
by Anna Richman
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Spring Eulogy By Anna Richman
A rolling cloud of smoky white unfurls,
Amassing form and taking shape until
A youthful child with wild and puffy curls
Shall dance like spring upon poppies, chasing chill.
The breeze approaches, warm and westward bound
A merry pursuit, lovers shy and chaste
Entwined and lying back on dew-swollen ground:
Imagination languid without haste.
The sun is burning deathly calm on skin;
On brittle grasses, sallow sunken streams,
The wind presses a final kiss like sin,
And clouds shall drift away as fruitless dreams.
Now fawn shall stumble, then earth shall sing
And I’ll be left without a wedding ring.
Kitten Circuit by Anna Richman
RUN! HUNT! PLAY!
Kittens say.
Aw! So sweet!
You will greet.
SNACK! SNACK! LUNCH?
Kittens crunch.
Ow! No Hand!
You command.
YUMMY YOU?
Kittens mew.
Not yummy!
You will plea.
NOT TOY? WHY?
Kittens cry.
Causes pain!
You explain.
AW. NO PAIN?
Kittens sigh.
Please, no pain.
You refrain.
PURR. PURR. SLEEP?
Kittens meep.
Aw! So sweet!
You repeat.
Love and Chewing Gum By Anna Richman
A breeze through the back door,
A draft drifts from the front,
A little house of board planks,
Held together by love and chewing gum.
I can see all the gaps—
The small, slanted windows,
The hingeless, gaping doors
Held together by love and chewing gum.
The windows are caulked with
Cherry-pink bubblegum,
Sealing nothing and all
Held together by love and chewing gum.
The doorframes are weathered,
Worn, and splintering; they
Stick with something viscous,
Held together by love and chewing gum.
The walls stretch like sinew,
Pulling at their pale seams
As a figure murmurs:
“Held together by love and chewing gum…”
As gum-joints ache and creak,
With every breeze it breathes
There returns an echo:
“Held together by love and chewing gum!”
It’s a conversation
That ripples through these walls
While I lay on the floor,
Held together by love and chewing gum.
This love is not human:
It's built from old windows
And rickety doorframes,
Held together by love and chewing gum.
—
The gum sticks to my hand in
The tenderest embrace,
As I cling to each board
For comfort in this place.
It gives me promises,
Ones it cannot keep,
For it is made of gum,
And my mouth is all teeth.
The breeze can be my kiss,
And the house my embrace,
But a house built from love
Cannot itself replace.
And so I'll make my bed,
To rest on nothing’s head,
For we are both nothing,
Built out of chewing gum and little else instead.