To My Romanian

I am moved by how you eat your vowels,
through hungry teeth that seem made for you,

too straight and ravenous to be natural;
the smile in bass clef, the unsated tongue,

how wide your hands—like timber—turn
the pen to your touch, carving growls

into tender shoulder flesh, white as the page
receiving your notes as I speak.

I don’t mean to tell you my secrets
but your eyes hold such dangerous welcome, safety

from dark woods at night, protected by the wolf,
the owl, the mountain’s claw and tooth;

beneath business suits, ties, and shoes lie
mammals awake at night remembering

hunting down a scent, the thrilling capture,
feasting by the light of the moon.

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Kelly Vance earned her MFA from Eastern Kentucky University, where she received the Emerging Writers Award for poetry in 2021. In selecting Vance for this award, Jen Currin wrote, "Vance's voice is at turns humorous, tender, elegiac." In addition to writing poetry, Kelly has a passion for encouraging young poets and is the Chair of Kentucky State Poetry Society's Annual Student Poetry Contest (2019-2023). In 2019, she completed the Conscious Feminine Leadership Academy affiliated with Women Writing for (a) Change, Cincinnati, and incorporates many conscious leadership concepts into her writing, mentorship, and professional work as a psychiatrist.