August Again

BY Janelle Elyse Kihlstrom


The stillest moment of the year
remains a jubilee,

where just outside the window
candy wagons,

muddy music, shards of crabshell
settle on the deck.

The ancient smell of grass remains,
and poems in scarlet

clusters, scattered by the shovelful.
For some other time.

Not June with its double entendres,
July with its virgin

coladas. There never was another
time. Your name now

instead of a starfish. Your turn
to say a thing

that's birthed in blood can't be
rendered in water.

 

Janelle reads "August Again"


Janelle Elyse Kihlstrom's chapbook, Blue Trajectory, was published by Dancing Girl Press in 2011.  She edits the online journal Melusine and holds an M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University.  She lives with her small but recently expanded family in the D.C. area.