Selected Poem from What Remains (Turkey Buzzard Press, 2016).
If you ever get the chance, live with an artist.
Live with an artist and you begin to notice
the shapes of things.
Even the air around the enormous
sprig of forsythia
in the beer bottle,
the way its presence
makes the room fade away,
its relationship with the white wall,
its simple canvas.
Live with an artist and expect food
to slow cook all day
just for the odors of chiles,
the moisture in the kitchen
the falling apart of the meat inside the pot.
You needn't gather the cats. They will find you.
Move in with an artist at least once.
Plant plenty of daffodils,
whatever you can afford.
And study the light
all day and in every season
before you decide to do
much else.
Live with an artist.
Stay as long as you can.
Leave if you must, then live with
an accountant.
Third Place, The Colorado Lawyer Poetry Contest, 2006.
A POEM FROM THE BOOK:
In 2016 Jacqueline’s first book of poems, What Remains, was published by Turkey Buzzard Press.
"I believe in the power of poetry lies in its play of time and memory with music and meaning. . . Who are we? we ask, and scraps of experience rain down."
(Photo credit: Peter Bryson, Nooknose.com)
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