Book-skimming is a bit like brushing fingertips across the face of the ocean.<\/p>\n
You caress a page and probe no deeper.<\/p>\n
Turn to the art tomes when words go from chime-clear to brassy.<\/p>\n
By the window of the bookhaven perches the kind of woman you don\u2019t ask for anything.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t ask because today is Thursday and she looks busy.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t ask because she is too beautiful to be real.<\/p>\n
When she turns her body towards yours and speaks,<\/p>\n
Like she sees you,<\/p>\n
Everything is hotcakes and honey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like everything you\u2019ve got going on there,\u201d she says,<\/p>\n
And you almost drop Norman Rockwell on his head.<\/p>\n
But she\u2019s out of the chair and halfway down the stairs already.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou too!\u201d you say, trying to stay respectful with your eyes<\/p>\n
And failing.<\/p>\n
Her Moroccan blue turtleneck tells no lies, but also very little truth<\/p>\n
Accept that she\u2019s slim, streamlined<\/p>\n
And has the eyes of an elk.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you a model?\u201d you blurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeriodically,\u201d She nods.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve put her in limbo, halfway down, neither here nor there, and she doesn\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to stretch. My body doesn\u2019t like being still.\u201d She frees herself.<\/p>\n
You pretend to look at photographs but her voice is dancing around inside of you<\/p>\n
And Norman has shut off his intrigue.<\/p>\n
His biographical photo is giving you a look that says:<\/p>\n
No, sister. You\u2019re not getting away this time.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s back, and speaking like each word is a bright shiny quarter<\/p>\n
But she\u2019s paying for a diamond necklace<\/p>\n
One<\/p>\n
Syllable<\/p>\n
At a time<\/p>\n
In an accent so ancient and hollow that it could be a cathedral.<\/p>\n
Your own words sound flat and stark, a hillbilly canter.<\/p>\n
She says that she\u2019s posed for photos in a river<\/p>\n
Nude and covered in mud.<\/p>\n
She writes about PTSD and lives in a house full of artists.<\/p>\n
Your eyelids flutter with the shutterbug spunkiness,<\/p>\n
Too fast and too light,<\/p>\n
She tickles the consciousness.<\/p>\n
She left Chicago because it was no place for a lone woman,<\/p>\n
No place for a woman who frequents graveyards<\/p>\n
And talks to cats<\/p>\n
And listens to Kate Bush.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s warm even by the window where she can look out at herself looking in.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s a bit crazy<\/p>\n
Crazy beautiful<\/p>\n
An off-kilter diamond weaver with very glossy lips.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo people approach you like this often?\u201d she asks, and you can only laugh.<\/p>\n
Nobody approaches anybody like this, ever.<\/p>\n
Not with the clarity of a crystal-glazed poetess<\/p>\n
Too raw and too real<\/p>\n
She\u2019s shaking your hand so please don\u2019t break her or eye contact or the speed limit when driving home<\/p>\n
Now the grey air is sharper than lemons<\/p>\n
And you are clutching something soft to your cheek.<\/p>\n
Did she give you something precious?<\/p>\n
Or steal something away?<\/p>\n
Is she watching you from the inside of your own head?<\/p>\n
Is this your crazy, or hers?<\/p>\n
All you know<\/p>\n
Is that you\u2019ve been struck by lightning<\/p>\n
And really wouldn\u2019t mind<\/p>\n
If it struck again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Book-skimming is a bit like brushing fingertips across the face of the ocean. You caress a page and probe no deeper. Turn to the art tomes when words go from chime-clear to brassy. By the window of the bookhaven perches the kind of woman you don\u2019t ask for anything. You don\u2019t ask because today is … Continue reading Will Anyone Harbor a Broken Poetess?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3604,"featured_media":948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"issue":[6874],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","issue-6874"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-09 19:26:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3604"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}