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The Sunday Poem: Amy Beeder... The Charges Are Stalking & Arson

All poets are dangerous, but this poet is explosive. "Powder speaks; dirt is mute." I'm starting to feel uncomfortable.

Amy Beeder is the author of Burn the Field (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2006). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, AGNI, Poetry Daily, and The Nation, among other journals. She teaches poetry at the University of New Mexico.

The Charges Are Stalking & Arson

The sizzlepop. The bang bang bang. The air

a stage where cherrybombs & I play spark
to vacant lots; it’s nothing new, this tune
of Zippo click, of fuse, the blue-tip plume
on resin, weeds & shed, historic barns
exploding first in swallows. Don’t shush me.
Powder speaks: dirt is mute. If I’m denied
I’ll fire the lot; I’ll gladly woo with gas—
o love, my love’s a cuff-struck match, my suit
the fabric’s curl to petaled ash—take me,
take ruin, a realm of ether, atom-bright, a pause
before the flint’s quick kiss; take me—who else
can hear how shot glass sings the grass’s name;
how bale, dry & quiet, speaks its love to flame?

--Amy Beeder

Poetry submissions are welcome. Email theditchrider@gmail.com. The whole Sunday Poem series is available from the front page of the DCF by clicking on The DitchRider in the left-hand sidebar. Poems early in the series are archived under "previous post" at the bottom of The DitchRider blog.

Tags: Beeder, poetry

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Comment by Ben Moffett on December 27, 2009 at 11:19am: I can almost see the reflected orange flame in your blue eyes, Amy. You may be put on some watch lists -- like the Society for the Protection of Barn Swallows, but overall this is as exciting as anything I've read since Firestarter. Steven King's novel, wasn't it?

Comment by Barelas Babe on December 27, 2009 at 11:31am: I could just feel the crackling heat at my back as I read this. Powerful!

Comment by Georgia Santa-Maria on December 27, 2009 at 11:48am: Love "the flint's quick kiss"--this is wonderful. Beautiful words.

Comment by Margaret Randall on December 27, 2009 at 3:29pm: Great use of language, sharp and original. I'm responding from Uruguay, and it's nice to have this connection to a Sunday morning in Albuquerque!

Comment by Acequia Booksellers on January 13, 2010 at 3:51pm: Amy will be reading at Acequia Booksellers with Stefi Weisburd on Sunday January 17 at 3pm. Don't miss this dynamite reading!