Anita Kerstin Sigurdmn TO FEEL THE FALLING I should never try so hard to fall asleep, I should ltnow my drums go that way when sleep is so hard to come by. Sleep 1 worlt so hard to achieve Bring; me to the swirls Makes the drop Into the night slty Of dark empty space As though it is ml. It is ml... Show moreAnita Kerstin Sigurdmn TO FEEL THE FALLING I should never try so hard to fall asleep, I should ltnow my drums go that way when sleep is so hard to come by. Sleep 1 worlt so hard to achieve Bring; me to the swirls Makes the drop Into the night slty Of dark empty space As though it is ml. It is ml As though I am walking down Washington Avenue Bridy And walking, I must stop, Gaze over the edge. Lool< down Feel myself drawn to the water. Wanting the water. The anticipation of falling Falling, spinning and swirling and suddenly There is the buzzing in my ears As though I am in sleepdream. To feel the falling, What the air would whisper As you move by it. The wind tells you of the water How cold it is How suddme like a knife it will cut. You spin and fall Nothing behind you Nothing ahead of you No ttaclts you leave behind. ‘l'fiav, -: “ Show less
dey Stechmann MORE WISCONSIN DAYS I rememher—the white school house on the Wind-swept lull Tillinghast School—New Auhum. WISCOfllIn l remember—Septemhet—school beginnings—new shiny shou— Plaid dm. ted tablet. box of Crayola and hriyJ'it yellow pencil— The long walk from the firm. goldenmd in the... Show moredey Stechmann MORE WISCONSIN DAYS I rememher—the white school house on the Wind-swept lull Tillinghast School—New Auhum. WISCOfllIn l remember—Septemhet—school beginnings—new shiny shou— Plaid dm. ted tablet. box of Crayola and hriyJ'it yellow pencil— The long walk from the firm. goldenmd in the ditches, red sumac— Scuffing new shoes along the dusty road I remember-the smell of the onrtoom school house— Chalk. dust. freshly varnished and Oiled floors— Pot bellied stove in the middle of the room—globe ol the world on teacher} desk— I remember—the cloak room shell where you placed your lunch bucket V Mine was a two—handled red square hucket With large golden words on it "Union Leader " My grandpa's brand of tohacco—he always smoked—the kind that came in this bucket—he said It wu the heat— I remember—the lunches in that hueket—hard‘l'niled egg— Home made bread—home made sausages—l can still smell the smoke of thoie little hard sausages—kind of spicy they were Pa always made the sausage—Mama made the apple cake that was there too Show less
Barhara Arveson THOSE HANDS I watch the hands of my Hmong student. They move the pen acm the page The scar shove his eyehrnw fades into the cream on his face as he shapes and carva eaeh letter, I watch those hands — they're young hands for a man lorty'eight years old The veim on the hack ere... Show moreBarhara Arveson THOSE HANDS I watch the hands of my Hmong student. They move the pen acm the page The scar shove his eyehrnw fades into the cream on his face as he shapes and carva eaeh letter, I watch those hands — they're young hands for a man lorty'eight years old The veim on the hack ere hegtnning to bulge; but the hrowned skin is smomh after year: of wear. They're small and well-formed: the palm: are allowed They'yd not always paused as they do now. I watch those hands. and often I wonder what else they've done that I'll never lmuw. How did they guide his six gniwtng children? What did he teach them to do and to tav’ What did they plant in Laotian mountatmt When he was a farmer heforc the war? I rtmernher those hands — how they lingered on a picture — the one of his daughter who died in Thailand. She died as they fled through fort:th jungles in search of: home when theirs was gone Thme lnnds huried her before they moved on. Did those lands save pilots — American pilots — shot from their planes on the Ho Chi Minh Trail? Which gum did they hold when he wat a soldier from '5txty-three to 'sevcntvlive? Did they cover his lace when his right eye war lmt a lie battled Vietnamae raztng his home’ Eighty dollars a month the CIA paid him They muted thmc hands for so many yum how many Americam shuL-c his hand now’ Show less