The Artist in America
Gray walls of anguish separate her
from the parallel worlds of magic
and danger. Something shimmers
between the cars, behind the stores
--breath of fish, footsteps of cats,
hands of fire, color of air.
The writing frenzy of floating lives
surrounds her like flying knives
banked by oyster cliffs of haze.
The wind of civilization screams
like incomplete children
that crawl away in sleep.
She knows the other animals
do not kill and blame the mother
that sustains them. Drawn by the power
of plants that slowly splits the rock,
she packs her palette, brush, and pen
and vacates the cave of madness.
Witchcraft
Runes are scratched on gingerbread walls
in the stammering darkness. Spoon in hand,
Gretel conjures an arc of resistance, shot
between silk sheets and bending the light
over scoured sinks. She organizes spores
on mirrors in jagged lines that spell
Run from the past while you can.
Antiphony hisses from burning thorns
thrown on the cottage ruins. Acolytes appear at dawn
licking nimble fingers and winding bandages.
The tabloids of scandal and infamy are extracted,
distilled into bitter poison, and injected
into the pale right thigh of commerce.
Self-appointed midwife, Gretel weaves straw charms,
knife ready for the linked twins twisting in the womb.
She practices projection and counterweight balanced
in the blood of emergence. Issues of ascension and power
wrestle in the afterbirth. The forest echoes with screams.
She carves limpet shell needles and spins black widow thread.
Perched on the sill, her owls wait, listening for the summons
they will carry through the world. Gretel whispers, Come,
sisters. I’ll teach you to mend the slits in your wrists.
Linda Scheller is an author and radio programmer whose first book of poetry, Fierce Light, was published in 2017 by FutureCycle Press. Recently her manuscript German-American was a finalist for the Word Works Washington Prize, and her poem “This is How” was nominated for the 2021 Best of the Net. Her latest book of poetry Wind and Children will be published in 2022 by Main Street Rag Press. Her website is lindascheller.com.
Gray walls of anguish separate her
from the parallel worlds of magic
and danger. Something shimmers
between the cars, behind the stores
--breath of fish, footsteps of cats,
hands of fire, color of air.
The writing frenzy of floating lives
surrounds her like flying knives
banked by oyster cliffs of haze.
The wind of civilization screams
like incomplete children
that crawl away in sleep.
She knows the other animals
do not kill and blame the mother
that sustains them. Drawn by the power
of plants that slowly splits the rock,
she packs her palette, brush, and pen
and vacates the cave of madness.
Witchcraft
Runes are scratched on gingerbread walls
in the stammering darkness. Spoon in hand,
Gretel conjures an arc of resistance, shot
between silk sheets and bending the light
over scoured sinks. She organizes spores
on mirrors in jagged lines that spell
Run from the past while you can.
Antiphony hisses from burning thorns
thrown on the cottage ruins. Acolytes appear at dawn
licking nimble fingers and winding bandages.
The tabloids of scandal and infamy are extracted,
distilled into bitter poison, and injected
into the pale right thigh of commerce.
Self-appointed midwife, Gretel weaves straw charms,
knife ready for the linked twins twisting in the womb.
She practices projection and counterweight balanced
in the blood of emergence. Issues of ascension and power
wrestle in the afterbirth. The forest echoes with screams.
She carves limpet shell needles and spins black widow thread.
Perched on the sill, her owls wait, listening for the summons
they will carry through the world. Gretel whispers, Come,
sisters. I’ll teach you to mend the slits in your wrists.
Linda Scheller is an author and radio programmer whose first book of poetry, Fierce Light, was published in 2017 by FutureCycle Press. Recently her manuscript German-American was a finalist for the Word Works Washington Prize, and her poem “This is How” was nominated for the 2021 Best of the Net. Her latest book of poetry Wind and Children will be published in 2022 by Main Street Rag Press. Her website is lindascheller.com.