POETRY

Near Forest’s Edge

By Caprice Garvin     VOLUME 58 No. 4

Vertical Divider

Make of me a worm or a drop of water or a seed--
I do not care which, just let me go whole into the earth.
Let me understand how tarmac-ill-will thrown down,
seeping up through soles of feet,
becoming rage that steals the wild animal’s calm,
can still be offered an opening.

I want you to close.
In truth, I want you to draw your knees in,
in the way I’ve learned to do when the world
knocks too hard on my front door.
You’ve the means—the curl of the fern,
the spent iris bloom.

But there is always winter opening cold,
and wave opening sea, and sun opening gaze
to welcome a dappling rattling down,
as so many gold coins into a beggar’s tin cup.

Always there is, even with me,
the knees forgetting to draw in.


•     •     •


TO READ MORE POETRY, PICK UP A COPY OF VOL 58 No. 4




CAPRICE GARVIN is a poet, lyricist, and songwriter. Her poetry has appeared in such periodicals as Colorado Review, North American Review, Poetry East, Rattle, and Terrain.org. She has recently co-written songs with producers Roberto Priori and Jody Gray and the veteran Italian hard rock band, Danger Zone, which may be found on the band’s latest album Shut Up! (Pride & Joy Music). Caprice earned an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Currently, she is studying music at The Juilliard School in NYC. You can find out more about her work at capricegarvin.com.


VOLUME 58 No. 4