Haute Couture<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Just when you think it can\u2019t be mended,
\nthe April sky,
\ndingy from over-washing,
\ngray hem of clouds coming down,
\nthey arrive\u2014
\nthe assiduous tailors,
\nwith their blue smocks,
\ntheir scissortails.<\/p>\n
Then you step out of winter like a grave
\nand awkward garment,
\nhappy beyond measure to know
\nthat from this same bolt of blue
\nthey clothed the pharaohs,
\nan Etruscan woman scaling a fish,
\neven your elderly neighbors,
\nsitting together
\nwith their oxygen canisters
\nat the edge of the lawn,<\/p>\n
May slipping softly
\ndown over their shoulders
\nas in the old stories,
\nwhere the blind see,
\nthe beggar walks in robes of gold,
\nand everyone is saved.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Haute Couture” is reprinted from\u00a0Now, Now<\/em>\u00a0(University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jennifer Maier<\/a>\u00a0is a \u00a0professor of\u00a0 literature and creative writing at Seattle Pacific University and an editor of the arts quarterly IMAGE. <\/a>Her work\u00a0has appeared in\u00a0Poetry, American Poet, Poetry Daily, New Letters,\u00a0The Writer’s Almanac<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and elsewhere.\u00a0<\/em>Her first book,\u00a0Dark Alphabet<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(Southern Illinois UP), was named one of the Ten Remarkable Books of 2006 by the Academy of American Poets and was a finalist for both the Washington State Book Award and the\u00a02008 Poets’ Prize.\u00a0\u00a0A second collection,\u00a0Now, Now<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0will be published in 2013 by The University of Pittsburgh Press.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Haute Couture Just when you think it can\u2019t be mended, the April sky, dingy from over-washing, gray hem of clouds coming down, they arrive\u2014 the assiduous tailors, with their blue smocks, their scissortails. Then you step out of winter … Continue reading