by Deborah Bayer | Oct 27, 2022 | Poems, Poems (2016-2020)
Supplicant Matins The campanile across town sounds the canonical hours. My sleepless all-night vigil ends when dawn begins to break through the hospital window. My fast is broken when the tray of cold oatmeal arrives on my bedside table. I remove the plastic dome....
by Deborah Bayer | Oct 20, 2022 | Poems, Poems (2016-2020), Uncategorized
Specific Gravity Once my heart was ballast in my chest, so sinkingly heavy I couldn’t stand. I slept for as many hours as there were memories. I couldn’t bear to look at myself, at my bloated face, my dull eyes. As time went on, I learned to throw everything,...
by Deborah Bayer | Oct 13, 2022 | Poems, Poems (2021 to Present)
(click here to order a copy) Temporary Frog I barely remember what I did to be transported to this princess’ backyard doomed to matrimony. The youngest spoiled daughter said she would, now she refuses to share her gold cup. Father insists, fair father-in-law. I...
by Deborah Bayer | Oct 6, 2022 | Poems, Poems (2021 to Present)
The Seagull Gray was a gift (and the gulls’ laughter). A world of water was the westward road. Wind and waves wandered ashore to make a murderous mess of the day. Rain and runoff ruined my sight. The windshield wipers whined in vain. A sea-bird showed sudden, silent...
by Deborah Bayer | Sep 29, 2022 | Poems, Poems (2021 to Present)
Red Gown with Lace As always, I’m drawn to this room, the one with the Chagalls, but today, I’m not here for them. I came for this hard bench under these dim lights to write about my mother. When I last saw her, she listed hard to her left side, toward the port-wine...
by Deborah Bayer | Sep 22, 2022 | Poems, Poems (2021 to Present)
Organic Chemistry The Friday before the July 4th weekend, I bought some Tokay at the State Store. The wine is named for the region of Hungary where the grapes are grown. I drank only respectable wines. I’d seen the empties neatly stacked against the...
