I see her
in the strand of wet
hair dampening
your t-shirt
and the curve of
your breast beneath it
nipple
raised by the chill
after a shower
and for a moment you begin
to glow (the old
you who pressed
my hand
to her flesh
drained desire
from my lips
mouth opening
to the want of all
I am I have
I need)
then fading
into the couch
knees
pulled into
your robe
she is
gone
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 24, Issue 1.
Herman Sutter (poet, librarian and volunteer hospital chaplain) is the author of the chapbook The World Before Grace (Wings Press) and a long-time reviewer for Library Journal. His writing has appeared in: Saint Anthony Messenger, The Ekphrastic Review, tejascovido, The Langdon Review, The Porch, Iris, Benedict XVI Institute, Touchstone, i.e., The English Review, The Merton Journal, blonde on blonde, as well as the anthologies: Texas Poetry Calendar (2021) & By the Light of a Neon Moon (Madville Press, 2019). His narrative poem “Constance,” received the Innisfree prize for Poetry, and “The World Before Grace,” a poem for voices (about a survivor of the Bataan Death March), was honored by the Texas Playwrights Festival. His recent collection of poetry A Theology of Need is long listed for the Sexton prize in poetry. He is also the author of the blog: The World Before Grace (and after) in which he contemplates the countercultural paradox of finding grace through the loss of self.See all items about Herman Sutter
