I don’t listen for you now, your crow step,
so eager to say my own piece. How does it
start. The ants came to tear my house down.
I went to bed thinking of them, woke plotting
against them. I did not dream. A legion of men
that summer, none could bear to let me
speak. They focused over my shoulder,
the vacant corner a more willing
conspirator. Where will I lay you, wright,
smith, climber cutting to the node, choosing
a new leader.
***
Lured back, I spun myself a shiny aluminum wing—
but in the afternoon, she put on a new face.
Those you love will evaporate before you, leave
their slack-jawed wind-up bodies lying in the yard.
Nicotine-stained filters reeking in the kitchen garbage.
Here is the next moment of your life: You spent it
in my crooked song.
Teresa K. Miller’s second full-length poetry collection, Borderline Fortune (Penguin, Oct. 5, 2021), was selected as a winner of the 2020 National Poetry Series by former California poet laureate Carol Muske-Dukes. A graduate of Barnard College and the Mills College MFA program, Miller is the author of sped (Sidebrow) and Forever No Lo (Tarpaulin Sky) as well as co-editor of Food First: Selected Writings from 40 Years of Movement Building (Food First Books). Her poems and essays have appeared in ZYZZYVA, AlterNet, Entropy, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. Originally from Seattle, she tends a mini orchard near Portland, Oregon.
Credit: Versions of these excerpts originally appeared in the U.K. journal Berfrois. These are the book versions from Borderline Fortune (Penguin, 2021). Permission granted by the poet.
Teresa K. Miller’s latest book is Borderline Fortune. Visit with her and her work at the Miami Book Fair 2021.
Welcome to SWWIM Every Day’s preview coverage of Miami Book Fair (MBF) 2021! The poets whose work you’ll be reading every weekday from October 25 through November 12 are just a few of the many authors from around the world participating in this year’s MBF, the nation’s largest gathering of writers and readers of all ages. They all look forward to sharing their work, thoughts, and ideas both in person and online. Between November 14 and November 21, new poet conversations and readings will be launched and available for free on miamibookfaironline.com (in addition to other content). For more information, visit the website and follow MBF on Instagram and Twitter at @miamibookfair and use the hashtag #miamibookfair2021.
