Emma Bovary by Monica Ferrell

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 7, 2016   Emma Bovary   Monica Ferrell

I would have liked then for someone to touch me So I could know the purpose of this hardship. Black-eyed and impassive as a canyon, From the hive of my mind, I looked at their faces  As I moved between rows of espaliered pears. I only intended for someone to show Me, once, an affection like the sun Shows even the simplest bulb, entering what’s hidden. Let me show them instead the picture In a knife’s reflection, take down my hair Where the gravedigger kneels among new potatoes. Behind my teeth are headstones, and behind those Skeletons of cavemen, of dinosaurs, And under my skin: alphabets, alphabets In black ink, a legacy of histories tiny and alive As an ant army marching toward forever. Understand, please—I, too, have a splendid use, This world could not get rid of me if it wanted to.            Copyright © 2016 by Monica Ferrell. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “‘Emma Bovary’ took its time. It started years ago as a monologue in the voice of the Cumaean Sibyl from Virgil’s Aeneid, twice as long and very boring. More recently I have been obsessed with Lydia Davis’s translation of Madame Bovary, and coming across the unfinished poem while thinking about Emma finally made the lines snap into place: The leaf-cutter ants of Costa Rica make an appearance too.” —Monica Ferrell   Monica Ferrell is the author of Beasts for the Chase (Sarabande Books, 2008). She directs the creative writing program at Purchase College and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Poetry by Ferrell   Beasts for the Chase (Sarabande Books, 2008) "canvas and mirror" by Evie Shockley "Respect" by Melissa Studdard "real poem (personal statement)" by Rachel Zucker Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. 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