by Jane Zwart
and miss begging to be pardoned;
the poetry in it fit what I meant, I
wanted someone to grant me the
indulgence of being, of needing
favors and water, I wanted someone
to intuit that I spoke
with cupped hands.
The thing is
people would prefer you excuse
yourself or, if it must be pardon,
that you leave no choice beside
its bestowal. People would rather
you left the begging out of it,
that you left
the poetry out.
For these reasons
and others, I have tried to tread
lightly. I have not asked for clemency.
I have accepted waivers
when what I wanted was grace.
::
Jane Zwart teaches at Calvin University, where she also co-directs the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, The Southern Review, Threepenny Review, HAD, and Ploughshares, as well as other journals and magazines. In addition, she is the co-editor of book reviews for Plume; her own reviews have been published there and in The Los Angeles Review of Books.
Image: “New Bouquet” by Sarah J. Sloat
ID: a collage of a hand gripping a bouquet of many different flowers with pencil writing in the background.
Psaltery & Lyre 