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CLEARING
This gathering of butterflies amazes –
yellow marked with black zig-zags,
a fluttering melee of tigers
with parchment wings; and pale
blue moths rising like ash
on a fire’s plumes.
They’ve hoarded here, where rooted
blossoms have no choice
but be plundered, where butterflies
sip on nectar and the dead fawn
gazing with her steady eyes, once
beautiful as butterflies.
BENEDETO
This call is monitored. This call
originates from an inmate
in a penal institution. You may
refuse it. You may hang up
or fail to press 5. You may choose
any of the other numbers
on the keypad, or listen forever
to this same recorded message
circling back on itself. This call
originates from a penal institution.
You may refuse it. If you press 5,
if you accept these charges, then
his voice will come strained
through static, steel bars,
a voice you’ve never heard before
in all the years.
You'll try to talk between
recorded interrupts reminding
you where this call
originates. You need to know
who he is. Now.
Taylor Graham Coal City Review editor Brian Daldorph calls this poet " a meticulous wordsmith, writing often of her experiences as a rescue dog handler.
Every word of each poem is carefully considered, and yet there is fluency and grace to her poems that sometimes seem like the mysterious
language of bird tracks in the snow. Taylor helps us to remember our links with the natural world." Graham has published four collections,
including Casualties ( Coal City Review) and Looking for Lost ( Hot Pepper Press), as well as poems in myriad publications. She is also
on the editorial board of The Acorn, a regional literary journal focusing on the western Sierra.
("Ten Poets to Watch", Writer's Digest April 2000)
Email: Taylor Graham
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