This morning, I sat down to read Erica Anderson-Senter‘s new chapbook, Seven Days Now, and it blew me away. I marked what I thought would be my favorite poems only to realize that I had marked over half of the collection. Anderson-Senter’s voice is strong. Her language is never dull; rather, line after line includes one subtle surprise after another. And so many poems take my breath away with their honesty. Click the link above to buy your own copy. Until then, here is one of my favorites.
Saint Mary’s River Song
My mouth tastes like a river,
like I’m standing next to a river,
like I’m licking limestone.
I’ve made dinner with silt,
with silt and cattails,
cattails dressed with mallard feathers.
I will die on this rock-ribbed river-bed;
a rough river-bed will eat my flesh,
fresh like limestone, barefoot in this rill.
My body is fully-flooded, bloated
laying flat in the flood plain,
the night heron fishes in my hair.
Denton Loving 