THE POETRY LOVER

Every night at bedtime
she begs me to read poetry to her.
With pillows propped behind me,
I lie on the bed beside her,
and recite her favorites.
She loves Mary Oliver,
how she writes of walks in the woods,
how once her dog danced with a fawn;
and the droll Billy Collins,
who kneels on the floor
to whisper Haiku to his dog.

At first I thought it was just the familiar sound of my voice
she responds to, but now I appreciate her commentary:
a whine, a yawn, or a hrumph of disdain.
She can smell a tired simile or a mixed metaphor
before I can finish the first stanza.
In fact, in canine literary circles she is known
for having a nose for poetry.
She has no patience for dilettantes.

Melissa Grossman

MY 8TH BIRTHDAY
after Frank O’Hara

I had my 8th birthday in Hawaii
where my brothers and I spent our whole vacation
on the beach (except on Wednesdays and Sundays)
when we watched them bury the pig to bake for the big luau,
only we never went to the luau, because we didn’t like poi
so when my parents asked me what I wanted to do
for my birthday, I said I wanted to see “HELP!”
because it was my favorite movie and I loved the Beatles,
especially George, though “HELP!” was really about Ringo,
and how one of his rings was meant for the Great Kahili,
which of course I knew because I’d already seen it four times before
and afterwards we went to Chef’s Coffee Shop for dinner,
where I told the waitress that I wanted “the usual” and they knew
to make me a sandwich - grilled cheese.

Melissa Grossman

THE EXERCISE

Inches away from the floor-length mirror,
she sits crosslegged, studying her face, looking
for a place to begin. She straightens
her glasses arranges her hair;
and with pen in hand she begins
at her forehead to draw
one continuous line of herself.
This exercise, designed to train her artist’s eye,
forces her to fight a desire to peek at the page,
on the sketchpad balanced on her lap.
With calm intensity she slowly
follows the features of her face,
carefully noting the slopes and curves,
mentally measuring the spaces between them.
At last, sure she has surveyed
the entire landscape of her face,
she is surprised to find
her eyes have drifted off to one side,
her nose twisted to the left,
her mouth crooked, beneath her chin.
The resemblance is remarkable!

Melissa Grossman