Anne Birkam

Just another day in the neighborhood

I would like to choseanother door –I don’t need a vacationto Bora Boraa new cara mink coatnope don’twant a newbedroom seta night at the operaa day at the museumI just want thedoor wherecars don’t backfirechildren aren’t screaming –diving under desksI want the door wherethe people don’t bleed 2/14/2023

Singers

“A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can’t diffuse a bomb. But we are not helpless. We can sing the truth and name the liars.” – Salman Rushdie There was a reed in her voicethis woman who loved meunconditionally. A trilland a pause and praisingthe beauty of a spider’sweb, intricate and fine-the makings ofContinue reading “Singers”

Cormorant

“Zhang Zhan risked everything to report on Covid-19 when it first appeared in Wuhan, China. In February 2020, she decided to travel to Wuhan as a citizen journalist in order to provide on-the-ground information about what was happening there. The former lawyer took to social media, reporting how government officials had detained independent reporters andContinue reading “Cormorant”

History lessons

Obfuscation is necessary herehide those pesky factsin plain sight if need bea truth told slantin a world on firefloods everywhereprevarication all overthe place Mamie Till stoodher ground –she let the imageof her son’s facetell the storyand what a storyit wasmust have beenif they are stillintent on lyingabout itobfuscation –that is what it is allabout 2023

What remains

Achilles heelfrom some previous centurySisyphus and a rockwith the lesson of prideCassandra’s warningunheeded as everAriadne’s threador how to escapeMedea and her childrenwhere vengeance is brutalJudith with a head is just awarrior woman unleashedPortia in her eloquenceIsabel in her silenceQuixote with a windmillGiverny’s gardens withirises of upturned headsMoonlight Sonatahaunting the foreverDavid allcurves and perfectionTikalThe Great SphinxhowContinue reading “What remains”

Profiles no courage

Your kitchen smells ofwisp and flamefanning a lieof borders todivide It is not the hearthat my grandmother’sfarmwith scent of molasseslack of running waterand sparkshe never missed a beatthis woman who couldnot swimrowed a boat to aone-room schoolhouseto teach What magic canyou weave otherthan sorrow forwhat we losein our addiction toprevarication? Oh, so now youstep downContinue reading “Profiles no courage”

Justice Taney presides

The male lionwill stalk the femalekill her youngif they do notbelong to himhe will rape herleave herprimal in allhe doesand he is leftunder the footof extinction fromanother primalspecies Audacious for surethis claim ofcivilizationvirtue when theevidence belies itfor the primal urgeis witnessed inthe DNA passeddown generationto generationsame old same old Some things justdon’t change 5/2024

Dipping

Not a chance here –in the land of themidnight sunI am going to find you –you of the black leggull-like presencebeat of your ownwings liftingm-shapedover and over The lust forfreedom iseverywhereeven an earwigcurled in the lettucewill escape withan imperceptiblebreath Sometimes you justhave to missthat connection – ballto batto make the hitall the sweeterSometimes it isn’taboutContinue reading “Dipping”

Librarian and bird

The wren isnesting againher first broodof babes flewinto the elderand pineweeks agoand now shehas found anew cavitycloser to mewhere I watchher come and gotwig and branchwill lead to moreflight It is flightwe are fascinatedwith isn’t it? –the abilityto escapethe burning ofMorrisonTwainRushdieeven that bridgeto Terabithia can’tbe crossed safely It is my mother’svoice I hearduring the chocolatewarsContinue reading “Librarian and bird”

But

She doesn’t knoweverythingbutevery woman knows the hula hoop – youmove your hipsto keep it movingfasterlighter pick up jacksyou must be fastwith sleight of handif you can noshe isn’tignorantshe doesn’t knoweverythingbutevery woman knows harderlongeryou must workand if yourskin is a darkerhueoh my dearyour day’snot through she doesn’t knoweverythingbutevery woman knows what she must dowould tankthe oldContinue reading “But”