ISSUE ONE: "Blessing for What is Absent" by Susan Rich

Blessing for What Is Absent

To hear the luxury of heat
pulse through the air ducts —

its whistles and bumps.
To readjust the bedcovers

against uninfected skin.
To move the sliding window

all the way to the left and listen
to the dogs’ dark chorus

in the well of night —
absence of ambulance, jet airplane —

to say I am here, holding
it together, somewhat

as branches beat against
the roof and water bellows

through cracked drainpipes.
How did I arrive here?

A passion for this season’s
boots, an art-deco umbrella stand

and so much more — for pleasures
of what is absent, no unmarked

graves, no evictions. What is
this heaviness imbedded

in our good luck —
this sharp, bronzed hinge?

Susan Rich

Susan Rich is an award winning poet, editor, and essayist. She is the author of five poetry collections, including, Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Collected Poems, Cloud Pharmacy, and The Alchemist’s Kitchen. Rich has received awards from PEN USA and the Fulbright Foundation. Her recent poems have appeared in the New England Review, Image Journal, Poetry Ireland, and The Account. Her next collection, Blue Atlas, is forthcoming from Red Hen Press, 2024. Susan is the co-founder and director of Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Poetry Retreat for Women. Visit her at www.poetsusanrich.com.

Photo Credit: Alexa Nuzzo