There was no moment apart from this stubbing self and its newest habit to hurt. Rapid, what we battered about. In the courtyard, a boy in embroidered turquoise held a small rack of candy strapped to his chest. It was a sweet estate. Summer: blurred and distracted. We had fought all week. Shut in to greater, deeper, no response. Missed the plane, which lengthened its vibration. Stephen Hawking spoke of three different times that converge. Walking into darkness, we found the darkness a history of bat wings pushed to pinwheel. That city wrapped in its buds. Its curbs and dogs soaked to concrete. Did you see around us those careless with joy all those hours we shadowed? Such shame to need what I can’t remember: the communion, or red skirts, the drench as citrus let out its juice. Filled with the reflex to find what is holy, we went— root and plaster, doorways, similar flowers, ghosts and cactus spines. In each place, I looked through a lens as the sun dispersed to its mirrors. And in some frames I found God or salt, some high-pitched singing. The church served its bells as if to sound what I feared. How little I know myself. I love you. We will die, live; these are our options. The bats slanted, concealed. They never stopped. You carried what we need.
Lauren Camp serves as New Mexico Poet Laureate. She is the author of eight books of poetry, most recently In Old Sky (Grand Canyon Conservancy, 2024). A former Astronomer-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park, she is a recipient of the Dorset Prize, finalist commendations for the Arab American Book Award and Adrienne Rich Award, and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and Black Earth Institute. Her poems have been translated into Mandarin, Turkish, Spanish, French, and Arabic. See laurencamp.com.
11/7 / Poetry Reading and Conversation with visiting poet-in-residence Vandana Khanna + local writer Nicole Callihan / The Gallery at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7-8:30 pm EST / Free
Two workshops remain in our Workshop Series--SWWIM Lessons: From Prompt to Placement: “Navigating Your Manuscript with Alexandra Lytton Regalado – What I learned from reading for (and winning) the National Poetry Series” on 11/12 (register here) and “Surfing Submittable with Jen Karetnick – Keeping your head above water in the poetry submissions process” on 12/10 (register here). Price: $80/workshop. Time: 7:00–9:00 PM (EST). Where: Zoom.
Note: SWWIM Every Day is now accepting poetry translations for publication consideration. Please see swwim.org/submit for the full guidelines.
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