Nancy Byrne Iannucci
Freedom: A Golden Shovel
Don’t bother the Earth spirit who lives here.
— Joy Harjo, “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit”
I am a plastic horse on a carousel, don’t
try to detach me. I know nothing of freedom, it could bother
my legs- I would have to be put down like the
injured horse at Belmont Stakes. it, too, knows nothing of this Earth
except for the circle it runs in, whipped of its spirit
breathing heavily in a tight saddle on which a jockey sits who
thinks only of winning and not of you – our lives
are the same, our horseshoes are nailed shut here.
Nancy Byrne Iannucci is a librarian and poet who lives with her two cats: Nash and Emily Dickinson. Maudlin House, San Pedro River Review, 34 Orchard, Bending Genres, Typehouse, and Glass: a Poetry Journal are some places you will find her. She is the author of four chapbooks, Temptation of Wood (Nixes Mate Review, 2018), Goblin Fruit (Impspired, 2021), Primitive Prayer (Plan B Press, fall 2022), and Hummingbirds and Cigarettes ( Bottlecap Press, 2024). Visit her at www.nancybyrneiannucci.com Instagram: @nancybyrneiannucci
Return to November 2024 Edition
Don’t bother the Earth spirit who lives here.
— Joy Harjo, “Don’t Bother the Earth Spirit”
I am a plastic horse on a carousel, don’t
try to detach me. I know nothing of freedom, it could bother
my legs- I would have to be put down like the
injured horse at Belmont Stakes. it, too, knows nothing of this Earth
except for the circle it runs in, whipped of its spirit
breathing heavily in a tight saddle on which a jockey sits who
thinks only of winning and not of you – our lives
are the same, our horseshoes are nailed shut here.
Nancy Byrne Iannucci is a librarian and poet who lives with her two cats: Nash and Emily Dickinson. Maudlin House, San Pedro River Review, 34 Orchard, Bending Genres, Typehouse, and Glass: a Poetry Journal are some places you will find her. She is the author of four chapbooks, Temptation of Wood (Nixes Mate Review, 2018), Goblin Fruit (Impspired, 2021), Primitive Prayer (Plan B Press, fall 2022), and Hummingbirds and Cigarettes ( Bottlecap Press, 2024). Visit her at www.nancybyrneiannucci.com Instagram: @nancybyrneiannucci
Return to November 2024 Edition