Sample Poems by Jennifer Reeser
Louisiana Broke
My Sleep
Louisiana broke my sleep this morning
and drew me down her autumn waterways.
The cypress moss a-sway, the bayou yawning,
Louisiana broke my sleep this morning.
White egrets fell across the sunscape dawning,
as into skies of humid, coral haze,
Louisiana broke my sleep this morning,
and drew me down her autumn waterways.
The Figure in My Parlor
She’s Asian,
that’s for certain, and the glint
of gold paint gilds a basket at her knees.
Her face rests on one palm, without a hint
whether she might be Thai or Japanese.
My glass shelves
suit her, somehow, in her glaze
of fluid, alabaster dress, the folds
of sleeve dropped from her shoulder and her sprays
of plum—no doubt the darling of the molds.
And look still closer:
you will see she’s lost
the wispy middle fingers of each hand,
which brought her price to half its virgin cost,
and hence a mistress, too, to understand.
Who knows but that
the riddle of her nature
won’t keep me occupied for years to come?
A changing continent in every feature,
a satisfying secret in their sum.
I’ve Been
Pondering Eternity Again
While I was still a child, at night I lay
in stillness on my bed, resolved to see
the farthest vestige of eternity,
until, within my mind, day piled on day,
each second piled thereafter, soon gave way
to such a paralyzing fear in me,
I’d countermand those thoughts impatiently—
knowing, (in time), forever couldn’t stay.
By seeking paradigms outside their moment,
I’d tried to force forever to successions
of hours, as children might mistake atonement
for nothing more than sorry introspections,
then turned my bedside candle off to sleep,
with full faith that its lightlessness would keep.