Poetry
This Cold Morning
my brain forgot to think in words.
It was wonderful.
The sky, one huge cloud, released
the snow, rolling in silence
the way trees die, slowly,
over patient generations.
Suddenly, a burst of red
feathers, a herald with a bright beak.
I have crossed the border
into my last lap of life.
I will no longer speak.
Sara Backer
Sara Backer’s first book of poetry, Such Luck (Flowstone Press), follows two poetry chapbooks: Scavenger Hunt (dancing girl press) and Bicycle Lotus (Left Fork), which won the Turtle Island Poetry Award. Her honours include a prize in the 2019 Plough Poetry Competition, ten Pushcart nominations, and fellowships from the Norton Island and Djerassi resident artist programs. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and reads for The Maine Review. Recent publications include Lake Effect, Slant, CutBank, Kenyon Review, and Poetry Northwest.