Andrea Moorhead, born in Buffalo, New York, in 1947. Editor of Osiris and translator of contemporary Francophone poetry, Moorhead publishes in French and in English. Her work has appeared in journals such as Abraxas, The Bitter Oleander, Estuaire, and Indefinite Space. Poetry collections include From a Grove of Aspen (University of Salzburg Press), Géocide and À l’ombre de ta voix (Le Noroît). Translations include The Edges of Light (Hélène Dorion, Guernica Editions), Night Watch (Abderrahmane Djelfaoui, Red Dragonfly Press), and Dark Menagerie (Élise Turcotte, Guernica Editions). In 2017, Red Dragonfly Press will publish The Carver’s Dream.
The Inner Atmosphere
There’s a hole in the heart
a pinprick of light
admitting air from the outside
from beyond the body
or even beneath the ground
where the sun has burrowed
made a leaf-lined nest
blazing under the roots
At the dam
Sitting beside fire, earth, air, and water
sheets of paper, ink, pencils
trying to move the forms into agreement
without staining hands, lips, eyes straining
into the clarity assumed
the bridge arching over the river
others are swimming fast
lying on the cold flat rocks
an iPhone chattering, clicking,
sweeping the scene
moving above fire, earth, air, and water
sheets of paper, ink, pencils
the gestures wavering in the still
dark heat.
In the darkness
the green burning
light under the stars
you are walking
in the darkness
along the river
fantasies of far fields
snowing under your bones
in the tight spaces remaining
when fires have taken the rain
and the crest of the autumn moon
glows in the shape of inverted stars
following the seeds scattered
the dried grasses left to burn
when wind cuts the day
and leaves the snow under forgotten dreams
in a far-snowing field.