Posted 2/14
The wooden chimes have splintered
in the storm, but still they make
what music they can make. The sky,
cold metal, and the dog and I–
the snow, thigh-deep around us–
are on a path dug by an unseen hand
from the place we call home, down
to the river with its surface of glass,
with its fish so deep and so asleep.
A neighbor comes towards us,
and because she is not a dream,
I indulge my habit of small talk
and mention my longing for spring.
From your mouth to god’s ear, she says.
And yes, your mouth, god’s ear,
my mouth upon. O bend your ear
this way. Come, come. Let the spring
come. Let it be said. And let it be so.
“On The Death of Carrie Fisher, and my Boobs” is a poem from the collection Everything is Temporary by Artist-in-Residence, Nicole Callihan.
On September 29, 2020, Nicole Callihan was diagnosed with breast cancer. A double mastectomy, a lymph node dissection, radiation, and hormone therapy followed. All the while, she committed to her everyday practice of making art. Many of the recordings were originally posted to the weekly open-mic series, Wednesday Night Poetry; the images that accompany the poems were selected from her Instagram collection @thebluepitcher. These are poems and notes she took in the months that followed her diagnosis.
Listen to Nicole Callihan read her poem here:
