Heartland by Maxima Kahn

i come from the amber spell of fields, muddy shoals, fools lighting cigarettes in praise of night,
……..from the barn-burning i come

from madmen imprisoned in thunder, heedless tumble of autumn’s last fire, double-boiler of
……..summer and winter’s cold creak, battering branches, from the riven i come

from latent and unspoken, errant gene pool, ancestral circle of curse and redemption, fireflies at
……..dusk readying their lamps i come

from chrome and steel rusting in junk heaps of imagination to be repurposed in civilization’s rise
……..and fall, the body’s grill searing, raw coals igniting on the tongue i come

i am sweet sap of maple oozing its hours, blue-green lawn cut low and tight, the cusp of a
……..wedding, limitlessness of mercy

i am a sealed envelope, singed grace, storm window whirling over wracked fields weathered
……..white from this

night, eerie glow and red moon hiding behind the sun, i double back and come undone, a net of
……..woven laughter, a fallen mouth, tainted song

Maxima Kahn‘s first full-length book of poems, Fierce Aria, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020. Her poetry and essays have appeared in The Louisville Review, Euphony Journal, Entropy, Sweet, and Spillway, among many others and she has twice been nominated for Best of the Net. More at www.MaximaKahn.com