Alicia Hoffman
Notes for a New Poem
Let it dwell
in infinite
possibility
for a while.
Have patience
for the threshold.
Good luck
making it sublime.
Eschew structure,
but more important,
eschew words
like eschew.
Speak as
you were
meant to speak.
Let it be
pre-language.
Let a stone
be only a stone.
A moon hung
uncommitted
in a velvet sky.
Avoid the big
questions. The heart
hurts enough.
Focus instead
on the thrum.
The thumb’s
wildness. The animal
howling in the distance.
In this instance,
you are midway
down the city street.
Though your timing
is bad, you run on,
and the wind
cools the sweat,
and the morning
rain remembers
itself as it falls
again like a dream
through the lindens.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Alicia Hoffman now lives, writes, and tea ches in Rochester, New York. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the Rainier Writing Workshop, and her poems have appeared in a variety of publications, including Atticus Review, The West Review, Radar Poetry, The Penn Review, Glass: A Poetry Journal, The Night Heron Barks, SWWIM, and elsewhere. Her new book, ANIMAL, is out now from Futurecycle Press. Find her at: www.aliciamariehoffman.com.
Return to September 2023 Edition
Let it dwell
in infinite
possibility
for a while.
Have patience
for the threshold.
Good luck
making it sublime.
Eschew structure,
but more important,
eschew words
like eschew.
Speak as
you were
meant to speak.
Let it be
pre-language.
Let a stone
be only a stone.
A moon hung
uncommitted
in a velvet sky.
Avoid the big
questions. The heart
hurts enough.
Focus instead
on the thrum.
The thumb’s
wildness. The animal
howling in the distance.
In this instance,
you are midway
down the city street.
Though your timing
is bad, you run on,
and the wind
cools the sweat,
and the morning
rain remembers
itself as it falls
again like a dream
through the lindens.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Alicia Hoffman now lives, writes, and tea ches in Rochester, New York. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the Rainier Writing Workshop, and her poems have appeared in a variety of publications, including Atticus Review, The West Review, Radar Poetry, The Penn Review, Glass: A Poetry Journal, The Night Heron Barks, SWWIM, and elsewhere. Her new book, ANIMAL, is out now from Futurecycle Press. Find her at: www.aliciamariehoffman.com.
Return to September 2023 Edition