Poem of the Week | April 06, 2020

This week’s Poem of the Week is “Poem in search of comfort”!

TC Tolbert identifies as a trans and genderqueer feminist, collaborator, mover, and poet. And, s/he’s a human in love with humans doing human things. S/he is author of Gephyromania (Ahsahta Press 2014), five chapbooks, and co-editor of Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Nightboat Books 2013). TC was recently awarded an Academy of American Poets’ Laureate Fellowship for his work with trans, non-binary, and queer folks as Tucson’s Poet Laureate. S/he is Writer in Residence at Pratt Institute, 2019-2020. TC Tolbert was a finalist for TMR’s 2019 Editors’ Prize contest. www.tctolbert.com www.tctolbert.com
Photo credit: Rosie Perera

Poem in search of comfort

A straw-haired
broom
holds the hollow
door open – every
bird I see I say please
do not hear me –
I never felt
what I feel
a line could be –
my fear has made me
small – rain
on an ox
eye – a pigeon wet
with its own
name – the bell inside
a metal bowl struck
and set loose
by a rock

Author’s Note

This poem is in conversation with the first section (40 Watts) of C.D. Wright’s last book, ShallCross. I am forever thankful for (and guided by) her work.