the broken creature we adore as whole

after Emily Dickinson

My A’self     diving into visible      
asking for evidence     dividing into pairs      

I am     too perfect for fear
called ample     called present 

called     quick enough
I am fictitious     as bliss       

I am     fictitious as abyss 
My A’self     so real as real as 

calyx     helix     galaxy
I laugh     I slip     I pluck 

I rip     vow     shake     pronounce 
I am fictitious     as anguish       

I am     fictitious as love 
My A’self     a bird except     a bird 

except     radiant     radiant 
this corridor where I hum       

excelling violet     adequate for Now 
My A’self     O to publish You

ξ

the heart begins to crowd my timid service

after Emily Dickinson

My A’self     drainless ruby
untouched by permission       

I have escaped     the spark 
of small love     I am miles of red

unstarved by longing     I startle     I undress
I am resolute     I am shining  

My A’self     surprised by weight     a scarlet way            
I revel in creature     being thief enough              

this chance reaching     by degrees
I am so real a heart     I slow misgivings with a vow       

softly of new species     near if not beguiling
no almanac of shame     no waste of doubt

My A’self     a bird until     a bird 
until     gathered     gathered       

I am     secretly and     orchard plucked
My A’self     You smuggle amethysts     into this witness

ξ 

Ginny Threefoot received her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Caliban, dusie: the tuesday poem, Guest, Poet Lore, Tupelo Quarterly, Zone 3, and in collaboration with artist Anne Lindberg at Carrie Secrist Gallery in Chicago and Haw Contemporary in Kansas, City, MO. They are preparing another exhibition that will open at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA, in September, 2022.