At night, by marriage: by Lisa Ciccarello

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend April 28, 2015   At night, by marriage:   Lisa Ciccarello

Here is how I control my heart: I string each thought one behind the next, like beads.   I wear the answers I am waiting to give. The jewelry becomes heavy as soil.   My long blink is a scream & a yes. There are things I have to say, but they do not yet know the questions they must ask. & a blink is no word; if they misunderstand—   A heart is just soil. Ask anyone. A heartbeat is a blink. A long blink is a scream. A longer blink is sleep. All night I am screaming.            Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Ciccarello. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “This poem was inspired by a folk tale, the specifics of which I’ve long since forgotten, which included a woman paralyzed by magic. I love the brief and strangely dispassionate nature of folk tales for providing a space in which to project imagined experiences, as here, where I approach the claustrophobic and harrowing feeling of being trapped within one’s own body.” —Lisa Ciccarello   Lisa Ciccarello is the author of At Night (Black Ocean Press, 2015). She lives in Portland, Oregon. Most Recent Book by Ciccarello   At Night (Black Ocean Press, 2015) "Diptych: My Bracelet" by Jim Moore "Marriage: A Daybook" by Nicole Cooley "The Meaning of Zero: A Love Poem" by Amy Uyematsu Read This Poem   For National Poetry Month, we’ve teamed up with 826 National to produce Read This Poem, a celebration of poets in cities with 826 chapters. Read this week’s featured poems by poets from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038