2010 Samples

Contest Winner

Samples

The Window Behind Her

Lisa Demske

 

Who am I to say     this grief     is not your grief?  You who stand
so closely to the pines            or the thought of the pines
behind the woman who listened, notebook in hand, as I couldn’t
 
speak with the pulling at my throat and chest     the raspy branches
twisting inside and then       the break that washed
hotly over them         until it was over and, hushed, I was
 
brought back to her settee     a small bowl of mints       the forest I
encompassed      encompassing me.