“I know I was born
to wear out at least one hundred angels.”
—Yusef Kuminyaka
They shed their spotless feathers at my feet, as if
they might take root in the soft skin of my shoulders
and my back. But I can’t change like that, like a woman
in a myth, only in ordinary ways someone would expect
of people who are getting older, my senses dimming
like the sky after the last bright flash of sunset, before
the moon peers down out of its cage of clouds.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 28, Issue 4.
Robbi Nester is the author of five books of poetry, including an ekphrastic collection, forthcoming from Shanti Arts in 2026. She has also edited three anthologies, and she currently hosts and curates two monthly virtual reading series: Verse Virtual Poetry Reading and Open Mic, and Words With You, part of The Poetry Salon Online.
See all items about Robbi Nester
