Ashley Seitz Kramer
Under the Ancient Elm
You realize you are not
who you thought you were, but not in time
to save the sparrow in the driveway
breathing fast. I see you park your bike
under the ancient elm and linger there
for hours then years. I do not expect anyone else
to knock on my door and bring in kindling
I can use. The sky looks less and less
like an open door anyone
could push open or pass through.
Hugging the Ostrich
Your plush cheek
her pointy beak
Your smooth skin
her feather field
Her suspiciousness of your limbs
less and less awkward
You wrap your arms
around the flagpole of her neck
She is altogether a different country
Ashley Seitz Kramer has won numerous awards, including the Ruth Stone Prize, the Schiff Prize, and most recently the Utah Writers’ Contest. Her recent work is published or forthcoming in Tusculum Review, Connotation Press, Colorado Review, Western Humanities Review, The Burnside Review, Anti-, Parcel, Cimarron Review, Quarterly West, and The Southeast Review, among others. She taught college writing in Ohio for a decade and now serves as an Assistant Dean at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah
Return to November 2013 Edition
You realize you are not
who you thought you were, but not in time
to save the sparrow in the driveway
breathing fast. I see you park your bike
under the ancient elm and linger there
for hours then years. I do not expect anyone else
to knock on my door and bring in kindling
I can use. The sky looks less and less
like an open door anyone
could push open or pass through.
Hugging the Ostrich
Your plush cheek
her pointy beak
Your smooth skin
her feather field
Her suspiciousness of your limbs
less and less awkward
You wrap your arms
around the flagpole of her neck
She is altogether a different country
Ashley Seitz Kramer has won numerous awards, including the Ruth Stone Prize, the Schiff Prize, and most recently the Utah Writers’ Contest. Her recent work is published or forthcoming in Tusculum Review, Connotation Press, Colorado Review, Western Humanities Review, The Burnside Review, Anti-, Parcel, Cimarron Review, Quarterly West, and The Southeast Review, among others. She taught college writing in Ohio for a decade and now serves as an Assistant Dean at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah
Return to November 2013 Edition