As It Is
by M.J. Iuppa
Since you missed your chance
to wash in rain, more
rain comes into your house
in buckets saved beneath
the roof’s runoff—rain
still brimming, clean
and certain as words
spoken in a rush—mouth
to mouth—scent of
another along the crease
of your neck stays
practical in your daily
thoughts—always there—
like accidental flower
arrangements—
those small fires
set in the mouths of
tea roses
steep quietly—
the light blush of
your face.
____________________________
M.J. Iuppa lives on a small farm near the shores of Lake Ontario.
Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in The
Comstock Review, Iconoclast, The Puckerbrush Review, The
Hurricane Review, miller’s pond, and The Centrifugal Eye,
and in the following anthologies: From the Other World: Poems
in Memory of James Wright, edited by Bruce Hendricksen and
Robert Johnson (Lost Hills Books, 2007); Eating the Pure
Light: Homage to Thomas McGrath, edited by John Bradley
(Backwaters Press, 2008); The Poet’s Guide to The Birds, edited
by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser (Anhinga Press, 2008); and
Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer’s
Disease, edited by Holly Hughes (Kent State University Press,
2008). Also forthcoming are a lyrical essay in Gulf Coast and a
poetry review in Tar River Poetry. Iuppa is Writer-in-Residence
and Director of the Arts Minor Program at St. John Fisher College.
On “As It Is”:
To you, readers who know love, who have kept its secret
close—is love an accidental arrangement, like flowers brought
in from a walk? Do you have to proclaim love, that is
“come clean” in rain or let it be quiet and present? Can you
see it in others? Can you let it be?
◄ Previous page Apple Valley Review, Fall 2008 Next page ►
Since you missed your chance
to wash in rain, more
rain comes into your house
in buckets saved beneath
the roof’s runoff—rain
still brimming, clean
and certain as words
spoken in a rush—mouth
to mouth—scent of
another along the crease
of your neck stays
practical in your daily
thoughts—always there—
like accidental flower
arrangements—
those small fires
set in the mouths of
tea roses
steep quietly—
the light blush of
your face.
____________________________
M.J. Iuppa lives on a small farm near the shores of Lake Ontario.
Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in The
Comstock Review, Iconoclast, The Puckerbrush Review, The
Hurricane Review, miller’s pond, and The Centrifugal Eye,
and in the following anthologies: From the Other World: Poems
in Memory of James Wright, edited by Bruce Hendricksen and
Robert Johnson (Lost Hills Books, 2007); Eating the Pure
Light: Homage to Thomas McGrath, edited by John Bradley
(Backwaters Press, 2008); The Poet’s Guide to The Birds, edited
by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser (Anhinga Press, 2008); and
Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer’s
Disease, edited by Holly Hughes (Kent State University Press,
2008). Also forthcoming are a lyrical essay in Gulf Coast and a
poetry review in Tar River Poetry. Iuppa is Writer-in-Residence
and Director of the Arts Minor Program at St. John Fisher College.
On “As It Is”:
To you, readers who know love, who have kept its secret
close—is love an accidental arrangement, like flowers brought
in from a walk? Do you have to proclaim love, that is
“come clean” in rain or let it be quiet and present? Can you
see it in others? Can you let it be?
◄ Previous page Apple Valley Review, Fall 2008 Next page ►
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Apple Valley Review:
A Journal of Contemporary
Literature
ISSN 1931-3888
Volume 3, Number 2
(Fall 2008)
Copyright © 2008
by Leah Browning, Editor.
All future rights to material
published in the Apple
Valley Review are retained
by the individual authors
and artists.
www.applevalleyreview.com
A Journal of Contemporary
Literature
ISSN 1931-3888
Volume 3, Number 2
(Fall 2008)
Copyright © 2008
by Leah Browning, Editor.
All future rights to material
published in the Apple
Valley Review are retained
by the individual authors
and artists.
www.applevalleyreview.com
 |  |  |  |  |