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Annie Stenzel
When I say I owe my life to dead poets,
I really mean it (Part II)
How often have I leaned on Emily, trustworthy
unto the last dip of eternity? After great pain
I have her words to pull me through,
and whether or not we agree on the subject
of hope, at least we both know birds enter into it.
In winter, where would I be without that slant of light?
Or how could I, in my capacity as prairie, cope
with neither clover nor a bee? (Thank goodness
for revery!) When I am Nobody, she keeps me
company. If I seek truth, I’m dazzled gradually,
just as I should be. These days I’m reconciled
to solitude—of space, of sea—but sometimes, yes,
in dreams, I guess I row in Eden. Those are wild
nights! She gave them to me long ago, to shiver in.
About the writer:
Annie Stenzel (she/her) is a lesbian poet who was born in Illinois, but did not stay put. Her second full-length collection, Don’t misplace the moon, was recently published by Kelsay Books. Her poems have appeared U.S. and U.K. journals including Atlas and Alice, Chestnut Review, Galway Review, Kestrel, Night Heron Barks, On the Seawall, Rust + Moth, Saranac Review, SoFloPoJo, SWWIM, The Lake, and UCity Review. A poetry editor for the online journals Right Hand Pointing and West Trestle Review, she lives on unceded Ohlone land within walking distance of the San Francisco Bay.
Image: A Field of California Poppies by Granville Redmond (1871-1935). Oil on canvas. 26 x 36 inches. 1911. Public domain.
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