To Ezra Pound
I wish to swing by the fluff of your beard,
smear your face with lavender oil, and
nest in the hole of your throat I see
through that unbuttoned shirt.
May I please excavate each crease in your
brow to know what you know? Can I rest
for a spell in the part of your lips
as you mourn?
I want to gray like you–spinning silver
wisdom–thicker by the year.
Copyright 2023 Sally Huggins Toner
Sally Toner is a High School English teacher who has lived in the Washington, D.C. area for over 25 years. Her poetry, fiction, and non-fiction have appeared in Northern Virginia Magazine, Gargoyle Magazine, District Lit, and other publications. She lives in Reston, Virginia with her husband and two daughters. Her first chapbook, Anansi and Friends, from Finishing Line Press, is a mixed genre work focusing on diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from breast cancer. She is presently a student in the low residency MFA program in Narrative Nonfiction at the University of Georgia. She can be found at SallyToner.com and on Twitter @SallyToner.
30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review
Wherever he is, Mr. Pound must be grinning. Thanks, Sally. Hiram
This is a really nice start to April’s poems. I like “excavate every crease” and “swing by the fluff of your beard.”
It’s a marvel! Thank you.