Photography © Jennifer Matthews

 

Rows of granite―
no one
to trim the switchgrass.

~~~

You and I
alone with death–
a goldfinch speaks.

~~~

Dead leaf
crunch!

An old man’s hat.

~~~

Leaf falls on my head,
I am a maple.

~~~

Somewhere in my lungs
an oak tree is blooming.

 

Adrian Oteiza is an emerging poet primarily based in Providence, Rhode Island. Through the written word, his poems step close to examine the texture and touch of my surroundings and step back to wayfind through geographic space. His current manuscript, Go There, explores two cemeteries in Providence as places that both reflects and refuses death.

Poet/Photographer Jennifer Matthews’ poetry has been published in Nepal by Pen Himalaya and locally by the Wilderness Retreat Writers Organization, Midway Journal, The Somerville Times, Ibbetson Street Press and Boston Girl Guide. Jennifer was nominated for a poetry award by the Cambridge Arts Council for her book of poetry Fairy Tales and Misdemeanors. Her songs have been released nationally and internationally and her photography has been used as covers for a number of Ibbetson Street Press poetry books and has been exhibited at The Middle East Restaurant, 1369 Coffeehouses, Sound Bites Restaurant in Somerville and McLean Hospital.