Spring 2014, Volume 16

Poetry by Mercedes Lawry

What is said and what is not said and where that leaves us

If the happiness factor was dressed
in something old-fashioned, something
suggesting the pioneer spirit, say,
a sunbonnet, could we find each other
more easily in a crowd or in the dark
of a broody Saturday night where nobody
was taking bets on you or me
and the dried grasses of mid-September
might light up a firestorm
with very little effort? What do you want
from a winter of extraordinary rains
and what do I want from thin arms
that cannot lift the dead dog?
Here we are at the brim, where the canny crows
sit and wait, revealing nothing aside
from their black, brainy selves. Here we are,
and wouldn’t you know, one of us needs to find
a word before the ghosts forget who we are.

 

 

 

BIO: Mercedes Lawry has published poetry in such journals as Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Rhino, Nimrod, Poetry East, The Saint Ann’s Review, and others. She’s also published fiction, humor and essays, as well as stories and poems for children. Among the honors she’s received are awards from the Seattle Arts Commission, Hugo House, and Artist Trust. She’s been a Jack Straw Writer, a Pushcart Prize nominee twice, and held a residency at Hedgebrook. Her chapbook, “There are Crows in My Blood”, was published in 2007 and another chapbook, “Happy Darkness,” was released in 2011. She lives in Seattle.