A first look at NER Vol. 34 Nos. 3–4
after a pen and ink drawing by Troy Passey
of a line by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Hurricane of what must be
only feeling, this painting’s
sentence circling to black
only feeling, this painting’s
on blank, ever-
tightening spiral
of words collapsing
tightening spiral
to their true gesture: meaning
what we read
when not reading,
what we read
as the canvas buckles
in the damp: freckled
like the someone
in the damp: freckled
I once left sleeping
in a hotel room to swim
the coast’s cold shoals, fine veils
in a hotel room to swim
of sand kicked up by waves where
I found myself enclosed
in light: sudden: bright
I found myself enclosed