Welcome, blog readers, to another Wednesday and another installment of our Pick-a-Poem weekly feature. In these weekly posts, we feature a new poet and his or her work in an effort to expose you to new writers. We find these poems through the very helpful Poetry Daily — a website that posts a new poem each day. You should check them out! This week we feature a poem entitled Night Text by Sarah Maclay.
According to her biography on the Loyola Marymount University website, Sarah Maclay has written three collections of poetry. These include Music for the Black Room (2011), The White Bride (2008), and Whore (2004). Her writing has appeared in several publications such as The American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, ZZYZYVA, and Pool. She has won several prizes and fellowships for her work, including a number of Pushcart nominations. She has taught at Loyola Marymount University since 2005.
Night Text, by Sarah Maclay
Let’s imagine I’m translating something to you—
you, asleep, or sleepless or naming
that third place—between—with the tips of your tapering fingers—
I don’t know the language.
It bends.In the mind—in that strangely shared chamber—
that is, I mean, in your hands,where you show me those scenes of confusion and flight
with such intimacy, and don’t know it—even sans color, sans liquor, sans shape,
we are twins. Fraternal. Unknown.The moon, invasive, huge,
lunging in through the windows,
makes no exceptions—It’s true: it will never happen / you’d be surprised.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s featured poem! For more of these posts, click right here.
– Jet Fuel Blog Editor, Mary Egan
