~ ONE ART’s Top 10 Most-Read Poets of November 2023 ~
A Fine Appendix
One day I looked up and saw
a v of wings over the plains
like a long oboe note and I was
helpless with love.
I want to thank the bonfire sex,
the banjo that is late kitchen evenings
baby asleep in my arms, all heat
and heartbeats visible.
I want to thank the hush
of ancient trees,
the anachronistic artifact
that is the appendix. How strange
I am not a heifer or a pumpkin.
How fine it would be.
*
Deborah Bacharach is the author of two full length poetry collections Shake & Tremor (Grayson Books, 2021) and After I Stop Lying (Cherry Grove Collections, 2015). Her poems, book reviews and essays have been published in Poetry Ireland Review, New Letters and The Writer’s Chronicle among many others. Find out more about her at DeborahBacharach.com.
Sixteen at the Spa
In the hushed low
lit locked room, back when
no one but sailors and sluts
strutted with tattoos, I watch a butterfly shimmer
droplets above
the nipple of a stranger’s
pale smooth breast.
The cook sears
meat raw to ready.
Steam fills me before
I bite any flesh.
We all can strip.
From my treasure chest, a thousand
mourning cloaks and monarchs
lift and hum.
*
Deborah Bacharach is the author of Shake & Tremor (Grayson Books, 2021) and After I Stop Lying (Cherry Grove Collections, 2015). Her poems, essays and book reviews have been published in Midwest Quarterly, Poetry Ireland Review, Vallum, Cimarron Review, New Letters and Poet Lore among many others. She is a college writing instructor, editor, and tutor and teaches poetry workshops for children. Find out more about her at DeborahBacharach.com.
