My story has no arrow’s arc
to hit the mark, no nesting dolls
enchant us all, no onion globes to peel
that make us feel its multi-layered sting.
My story plods a circle on concrete,
an ox who lifts her feet in rhythmic pain,
dutifully threshing grain from chaff—
paragraph, paragraph—while one I never see
whips my haunches to make me do this faster,
eager for another chapter. But I only begin,
begin again. My ribs are thin walking this ring
of the same thing over, over. . . stopping is not
up to me, my monotonous motion
not worth mention but for a random spark.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 23, Issue 5.
Sara Backer’s first book of poetry, Such Luck (Flowstone Press 2019) follows two poetry chapbooks: “Scavenger Hunt” (dancing girl press) and “Bicycle Lotus” (Left Fork), which won the Turtle Island Poetry Prize. Her writing has been honored with residency fellowships from the Norton Island and Djerassi programs and with eight Pushcart nominations. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
See all items about Sara Backer
