The Untier of Impossible Knots
by Anthony Russell White
The Tea-Seller in Istanbul
moves through the bazaar
tall silver samovar
strapped to his back
five almost clean glasses
in a curved metal holster
around his waist
he bows low
tea runs through a pipe
over his shoulder
two teas
two glasses
two bows
Anthony Russell White lives in San Rafael, California.
Formulary
by Georganna Millman
Evolution
Hiking up the mountain
I found a horse-drawn plow,
abandoned in what once was
steep farmland that now
has returned to forest
telling something about
how we start out as one thing
and over time become another.
The trees have taken
everything back, toppling
the old stone wall.
One tree has grown through
the plow, lifting it
so that both sway
when the wind blows.
Georganna Millman lives in Big Indian, New York.
We Tempt Our Luck
by Cynthia Hardy
Unencumbered
Air so cold sound rings.
A woodpecker, confused by sunlight
clatters on a poplar, iron-hard.
By the woodpile, a shrew's tracks,
a trail drawn by a feather tip.
Thr horse bows his head; his mane falls
between his eyes, as if he were
the liege, I the royal hay-queen.
The light glints off snow, off
the horse's white coat, off the frost
formed there by his breath, off the woodpecker's
back. We are unencumbered by longing
held still by cold, its magnifying
glass, its mirror, its bitter
taste on the tongue.
Cynthia Hardy lives in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Cocktail Shaker
by Lee Firestone Dunne
Lapse
Is this spring or
fall? The way the sky
gusts and leaves drip
rain on the road.
Are they new or old, the leaves.
My eyes squint and widen
as I drive.
Is it day or dusk?
Is it parched or full,
the skin of March
or November,
I ask myself, amazed.
Am I late or early?
Lee Firestone Dunne lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
