Kinzy Janssen




Semblance

If someday

our vines

tapered into the sky,

even if you twine the downspout

and I take the open air, exposing

myself at every angle,

perhaps the eventual sameness

of sky cannot be

dismissed.

 

But there is a question

 

of threshold. If you enter the sky, I may not

agree.

Say you feel the sky envelop

you at roof-level? 

Say my tolerance is higher,

entreating a deeper blue?

 

And there will be a confrontation

 

with the sun. At this inescapable hour,

the sun will be asking

for shadows. Your larger leaves projected upon

a sidewalk containing mine. They mingle;

sharpen. Our shapes traceable

when the sun squints,

whether or not

 

we take notice.

 

Moments were doors

and we pushed

on the hinges.

It never occurred to either of us

to teach each other


anything but superimposition.




Kinzy Janssen was admitted to several selective poetry workshops at the University of Iowa as an undergraduate, but she was especially influenced by visiting professor, poet Mary Ruefle, who was teaching nonfiction at the time. Her poetry earned an honorable mention in the Wisconsin Arts, Letters, & Sciences 2010 Poetry Contest and she has read and discussed her poetry on the radio, in art galleries, and in particularly welcoming bars.










                                    

 

Home
Current Issue
Submissions
Contributors' Notes


Email this poem Printer friendly page

A CLOSER LOOK: Linda Pastan

Don Berger

George Bishop

Lavina Blossom

Judy Brackett

Shirley J. Brewer

Mark Jay Brewin, Jr.

Emily Rose Cole

Philip Dacey

Colin Dodds

Phillip A. Ellis

Susan Mitchell Evans

Roger Fogelman

Lucia Galloway

Joshua Gray on Yvette Neisser Moreno

William Greenway

David Brendan Hopes

Kinzy Janssen

Carol J. Jennings

Judy Kronenfeld

Hailey Leithauser on James Arthur

Elaine Magarrell

Victoria Kohn Michels

Simon Perchik

Allan Peterson

Roger Pfingston

W.J. Preston

Oliver Rice

Michael Salcman

Catherine Simpson

Lee Slonimsky

Katherine Smith

Myrna Stone

Robert Joe Stout

Matthew Thorburn

Lawrence Wray

Remembering Ed Zimmerman

More

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 


Last Updated: Feb 22, 2020 - 12:30:13 PM

Copyright 2005 - 2020 Cook Communication.