Luanne Castle
Imagine This Portrait
Think of him as the ice she slid on
to the center of the world
And the worldly air she projected
during games of deep concentration.
Think of him as buried deep inside
with a heart covered only by membrane
And the hat that slips between us and God
to cover our sins and wisecracking.
Think of him as the crack in the counter
we fill with goo and cure with heat.
Think of him as the heat that fries our skin
in the two-week cure for wintry blues
And the apple-cured bacon we overcook,
crumble, and add to everything we eat.
He’s the addition to everything she is
and the frosty fire pink of her fine eye.
About the writer:
Luanne Castle‘s Kin Types (Finishing Line Press), a chapbook of poetry and flash nonfiction, was a finalist for the 2018 Eric Hoffer Award. Her first poetry collection, Doll God, winner of the 2015 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, was published by Aldrich Press. A Pushcart nominee, she studied at the University of California, Riverside (PhD); Western Michigan University (MFA); and Stanford University. Her writing has appeared in Copper Nickel, TAB, The American Journal of Poetry, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Verse Daily, Broad Street, Lunch Ticket, Grist, River Teeth, and other journals.
Image: Water Music #6 by Roger Camp. Cibachrome print. 16 x 20 inches. 1993. By permission. Camp is the author of three photography books including the award winning Butterflies in Flight, Thames & Hudson, 2002 and Heat, Charta, Milano, 2008. His work has appeared in numerous journals including The New England Review, New York Quarterly, and North American Review. His work is represented by the Robin Rice Gallery, NYC.
