Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/k9QTh86QvO8) 22.12.2021.
THE FIRST EFFORT
I want a thousand drop-dead poems
and no fear to finish more of them.
To have re-written so well,
my art has promised fruition.
This passion, like instinct,
an animal way for the sinew
to wrap my finger on the arrow
and a flight that never, never misses.
WHAT’S THE WHOLE THING?
I cry sometimes
because I remember
I had lost my name,
I mean, my words.
Also, regained the poems
I had written
and books I had loved.
What I said before,
I can’t always remember
my former self.
It’s not me about fame or money.
Enjoyment is what actually
costs me nothing.
My poems maintain
my writing each day.
Doing it all again.
About the Author: Eloise Klein Healy, the author of nine books of poetry, was named the first Poet Laureate of Los Angeles in 2012. She was the founding chair of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles. Her forthcoming book, A Brilliant Loss, will be published in 2022.
In 2013, Eloise developed aphasia, or the loss of the ability to understand and express speech, due to encephalitis. Through poetry, Eloise attempts to reconnect with the world.
