"See Whether," "November," and "Pencil"
See Whether
Ask her if
She notices
The big blue shadow
Change the look of moon
The anyold
Space between
Now and then
Now and again
November
I used to like to up-front differences
To iron them out
Now I’ve given that away
To cut my losses
On the sole melody we had in common versus
New harmonic breath
We catch, release, allow
To get away.
Love is less impossible
When I consign myself
To peace instead
Of smoothing wrongs.
How is it possible the sky
Can shine across the river
Anymore, the heart beat
Purely as the distance from a grave?
Pencil
Lead is soft
Page is soft
I write something
You may read
Another city
Full of windows
Means paintings
In the many minds
I practice being
Quiet by myself
With you away
From here
I hear speech
Invisible I indulge
In your language
Invincible
Sheila E. Murphy is the recipient of the Gertrude Stein Award for her book Letters to Unfinished J. (Green Integer Press, 2003). Her most recent book is Golden Milk (Luna Bisonte Prods, 2020). Reporting Live from You Know Where won the Hay(na)Ku Poetry Book Prize Competition (Meritage Press (U.S.A.) and xPress(ed) (Finland), 2018). Also in 2018, Broken Sleep Books brought out the book As If To Tempt the Diatonic Marvel from the Ivory. The chapbook Separation Theory (Writers Forum, 2004) was just reprinted (Trainwreck Press, 2022).
