ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Karen Paul Holmes has two poetry collections, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin, 2018) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich, 2014). Her poems have been featured on The Writer's Almanac, The Slowdown and Verse Daily. Publications include Diode, Valparaiso Review, Lascaux Review, and Prairie Schooner.
Also by Karen Paul Holmes:
Untying the Knot
No Such Thing as Distance
YouTube video of reading from No Such Thing as Distance
Lines Written Under Hartsfield-Jackson Airport
This light-crowd-for-a-Friday
tram, the tall man in camo,
his kid peeping areweonthetrainnow,
a foursome Gucci-festooned
from flip-flops to jeweled
shades perched on heads, the staring woman
in polyester blouse (calico tea cups full of tulips),
brown pants baggy from weight loss—
all of us masked,
all of us with the same
clock tick inside. Aren’t we desperate
for joy and to see the dead again? Afraid
of our own deaths, even those who believe
in Jesus.
The Course in Miracles says
we’ve hatched a tiny mad idea
that we’re separated
into people in hats, people who smoke,
hockey players, old men limping,
40-somethings in red leopard dresses
and 5-inch heels with wide ankle straps.
And me.
Stomach fluttering with fear of flight,
always thinking, thinking —
I lean against a silver pole
(avoiding germy contact with skin),
ultra-light carry-on balanced
between my feet, full
of all I think I need, not realizing
I’m safe even if the plane crashes.
The plane shaped like a cross.
I wrote this poem in mid-2019, but it has taken on new meaning in these pandemic times. It seems surreal that I used the word “masked” metaphorically, and now it’s a reality, and “germs” are more frightful today. As I rode the underground train at the Atlanta airport that day, I had the feeling that this diverse group of everyday folks were really just one human essence. And now we’ve experienced COVID-19 as a great equalizer, a fear we all had to face, and a challenge to any faith we have in a higher power. When I’m fearful, it comforts me to remember the bigger picture.
Glass: A Journal of Poetry is published quarterly by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
