new from above/ground press: Vesper Vigil, by Bronwen Tate

Vesper Vigil
Bronwen Tate
$4

What can be closer than my own body?

Known in sensation: heat, pain, and desire —

new furrows, grey hairs, unnoticed freckles,

apprehended in mirrors’ strange angles.

Presence began with the counting of days,

with each ultrasound’s fear and relief,

grew with sickness I delayed meals to know,

then reassured by that nausea, ate toast.

Legible bodies prompt declaration —

I said “due at the end of July.”

Fingers now join silent conversation,

limbs pushing taut skin in reply.

Beloved, still abstraction, I confess,

how can I know you till I see your face?

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
May 2016
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

Cover image: V. Caleb Anderson

Bronwen Tate is the author of the chapbooks Souvenirs (Dusie 2007), Like the Native Tongue the Vanquished (Cannibal Books 2008), Scaffolding (Dusie 2009), if a thermometer (dancing girl press 2011) and The Loss Letters (Dusie 2011). She has taught courses in literature, aesthetics, creative writing, and composition at Brown University, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and Stanford University, where she is currently a lecturer and fellow in the Thinking Matters Program.

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; outside Canada, add $2) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9 or paypal at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com