Belletrist

Once again I fall hard
in love with a word.
Belletrist: a writer
of belles lettres.

Beautiful letters!
From apple to zigzag
with twenty-four loves
tall as ship masts or

low as open water
in between. Doves,
the tail of why, hilly
consonants like B.

Vowels moving fast as trains.
O like new word-glow,
a newborn pushed out
of darkness into being.

*

Julia Caroline Knowlton is a Professor of French and Creative Writing at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta. Julia has a PhD in French Literature (UNC-Chapel Hill) and an MFA in Poetry (Antioch University, Los Angeles). The author of one full-length poetry collection, three poetry chapbooks, a memoir and a children’s book, she has twice been named Georgia Author of the Year. Her work has also been recognized by the Academy of American Poets. She lives in Atlanta and Paris.

Knowlton is Guest Editor of ONE ART’s In a Nutshell: an anthology of micropoems.