I bear no grudge
against the grass,
the wily snake
or hapless horse.
No need have I
for furious sun.
Observe my cliffs.
Imperial ice.
My trillion bright
relentless teeth—
You feel them
inching forward?
That wind that chills
your heedless neck—
No fool should doubt
my granite will.
Proud duty, mine,
to bring to earth
a little death.
Joan E. Bauer is the author of three full-length poetry collections, Fig Season (Turning Point, 2023), The Camera Artist (Turning Point, 2021), and The Almost Sound of Drowning (Main Street Rag, 2008). Recent work has appeared in Paterson Literary Review, Slipstream and Chiron Review. For some years, she was a teacher and counselor and now divides her time between Venice, CA and Pittsburgh, PA where she co-curates the Hemingway's Summer Poetry Series with Kristofer Collins.
