Elegy

Jennifer MacBain-Stephens

 

you are tree trunk
and dirty carrots

work boot and witch hazel
too many cans of beans

in the cupboard your eye
more sun than yellow

more candy than real
how are we allowed

to enter the stars?
you blaze from Orion’s

belt, huge, seen
from every tilt

you are water-proof
pants and always

leaving stuff
out: letters, thyme,
blunts

you are time managed
struggle and disc golf

car careful
all of the photos

I ever saw I search
the faces

the Ticket to Ride players
the wine pourers

the dogs and snow
without you

I am bird catastrophe
chasing an egg

that a hawk stole
the only direction

is smash

 

***

Jennifer MacBain-Stephens went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and now lives in Iowa where she likes to rock climb. She is the author of four full length poetry collections and fifteen chapbooks. Recent work can be seen at or is forthcoming from The Pinch, Cleaver, Yalobusha Review, Dream Pop, Zone 3, and Grist. She also hosts an indie reading series sponsored by the non-profit organization Iowa City Poetry called Today You Are Perfect. Find her at http://jennifermacbainstephens.com/.